Sisson barred...who does the MHSAA think they are? The AAU?

Andrew Perkins (Former Hog All American) suffer his senior year the same fate as Sisson under MHSAA. I agree, Missouri HS Athletics must be run by a bunch of outdated old school re-thread from the AAU.

It's a dumb rule, but the two articles I read seem to indicate this was a decision Sisson made based on her racing/training schedule. She had the information when she made her decision to run. To me it is a little different situation when you have all the information and then make a decision where you know what the outcome will be versus making a decision and then finding out you've been barred by a governing body. These are the articles I read.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/othersports/story/7171862D177DB918862577000081F42E?OpenDocument

http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2010/03/30/west/sports/0331wc-girlstrack3.txt

I think the rule is stupid, but it sounds like she made the decision knowing she would be banned. And I think she made the right one. She's already shown that she can compete at a high level, so I think she's better off taking a break from running and getting a good base in for college.

Sisson's coach sounds like a good guy, too. He's publicly supporting a decision that will obviously make his team weaker (there goes 20 points at the State Championship Meet) in order to allow an athlete to first compete at a higher level than is available to her locally (NIN, World Jr XC) and then better prepare for her future goals (by recharging her batteries in the spring and laying down a good base for her freshman XC season at Wisco).

it was actually adam perkins. basically they both chose to compete at high level meets which were not allowed by mshsaa. they knew ahead of time that they would forfeit their eligibility. i remember when perkins did it, everyone thought it would "send a message" and the old rules would be changed. obviously they are still on the books.

Sadly this situation has been happening for years in different states at different levels. The only thing it accomplishes is a disdain for those in authority and and a loss of opportunities that can never be replaced.

Our small school always went to 3 indoor meets. My junior year, I also went to 4 others as an individual and with a track club. One of those meets was considered one of the top indoor meets in the state and I placed 2nd in the 1500.

Before my senior year, the rules were changed so athletes could only compete for their school with their coach present. I lost the opportunity to go back to that meet because I would have been the only athlete from my school and it was not worth the time of the coach or school to enter me. Just another lost opportunity.

Did I get a scholarship to run in college? No

Was I really close to running times that could have gotten me a scholarship? yes

Did not being able to compete at this large meet cost me a scholarship? Possibly

These states and athletic organizations should be about providing MORE opportunities for athletes, not LESS!!

I normally would slag these guys off as dinosaurs but....

the rationale might be that the officials are trying to make sure marks submitted are valid. We all know that there are coaches who will set up a "meet" with "events" and some qualifying "marks" will be made. How to monitor this? Go to each and every meet, watch each race, make sure there are 3 competitors in each event etc etc etc?

Yes NIN is a large meet, but if they make an exception in this case, then they will get a barrage of requests and threats from other meatheads saying their meet is just as valid.

Something to consider...

What abut footlocker regionals and nationals? She competed in those and wasn't banned, where is the consistency? Yes- she was clearly aware of the rules, but she shouldn't have had to makthe decision between NIN and her senior track season. Plenty of states allow their athlete to compete at Nike indoors and outdoors without taking eligibility from them. Why the difference with Missouri?

Valid point, but missouri state qualifying doesn't use seasonal marks as qualifying for post season competitio. It's all positional placement with the top 4 moving from districts, to regionals, to state.

Sad to see such a promising young runner denied opportunity like this. But now she can focus on getting ready for NON and crushing all the over-raced runners there. :)

Flip-flopper wrote:

What abut footlocker regionals and nationals? She competed in those and wasn't banned, where is the consistency? Yes- she was clearly aware of the rules, but she shouldn't have had to makthe decision between NIN and her senior track season. Plenty of states allow their athlete to compete at Nike indoors and outdoors without taking eligibility from them. Why the difference with Missouri?

It all has to do with the timing. SInce NIN took place after the season had started (and was not a sanctioned meet), competing there was a violation of the rule. Footlocker is post season, so it does not violate the rules.

She knew the rules and did what she thought was best for herself.

This has been a longstanding problem with MSHSAA. Aside from Adam Perkins not running back in 2003, rules kept West Plains and some other nationally ranked XC teams from competing out of state. It sucks, really.

Then again, Tegenkamp made it out just fine so maybe it's a non-issue. The question is how you want to look at it.

Not An Expert wrote:

Sisson's coach sounds like a good guy, too. He's publicly supporting a decision that will obviously make his team weaker (there goes 20 points at the State Championship Meet) in order to allow an athlete to first compete at a higher level than is available to her locally (NIN, World Jr XC) and then better prepare for her future goals (by recharging her batteries in the spring and laying down a good base for her freshman XC season at Wisco).

I agree with this. I suspect Sisson will also continue training with the team but will be ineligible to compete at events. Anyone else have insight into this?

What I don't understand is why people insist she now forgo an outdoor season? So she misses the HS season, big deal! Having competed at World XC, now she can focus properly on World Juniors (Canada end of July) and compete at a "real" meet. Athletes don't need to take the whole summer to build to XC, that's such a load of crap - she has many years in the NCAA (even if she redshirts her first XC season) anyway.

Mo Ahmed (also Wisco) did WXC, and will likely do World Track as well - the experience is good for them. In fact if more US athletes availed themselves of the opportunity to compete against the best in the world, maybe (like guys like Webb) they would be able to compete against the best in the world later in their careers. Guys like Geb and El G bothered to run at World Jnrs, maybe that's why they won the Olympics, and the Americans rarely get on the podium in distances.

My respect for Emily Sisson has gone up as result of her passing on the high school season in order to compete at the WCCC.

Good for her doing what is best for her and her life.

Old Runner wrote:

I agree with this. I suspect Sisson will also continue training with the team but will be ineligible to compete at events. Anyone else have insight into this?

I doubt she will train with them. She didn't really train with her team during cross country. Word on the street is she has basically been coached by her dad since moving to St. Louis. She has kept her distance from the team. She barely interacted with them, even at meets.

She can still do all the big post season meets or big invites out of state if she wishes as well. Not a big deal as she is a senior.

doubtthat wrote:

Old Runner wrote:

I agree with this. I suspect Sisson will also continue training with the team but will be ineligible to compete at events. Anyone else have insight into this?

I doubt she will train with them. She didn't really train with her team during cross country. Word on the street is she has basically been coached by her dad since moving to St. Louis. She has kept her distance from the team. She barely interacted with them, even at meets.

In Diane Robison, Emily had an unbelievable training partner and they combined to make one of the best One/Two punches in the women's highschool ranks the past couple seasons.

She certainly did work under the guidance of Parkway

Central's coach, as he coached her through 2 Record Setting Cross Country seasons, 1 record setting outdoor season and some very fast post season races in cross country and on the track.

It just so happens that she made conscious decisions to compete at World's and NIN. Those were good choices from a competitive standpoint, but sadly MSHSAA is run by the "Good Ole Boys" and the rules will not be bent or broken for anyone. So until Missouri get's new blood in the upper levels of MSHSAA our best athletes will have to cut through a lot of red tape to compete against the best without sacrificing their high school careers.

you must be joking. bar athletes from nike indoor nationals because you're worried about the legitimacy of the marks????