Anybody want to hear a secret? Byu and Portland tied 32/32.
Yup, it's the truth and may be one of the greatest all time cover up/hose jobs in conference championship history.
I have a number of very reliable sources that have told me some detailed information regarding serious errors in the timing, chip and video systems used in capturing the results of the race.
The skinny of it is that BYU'S 5th runner (Steve Flint)was given a 12th place finish according to the chip time, but was actually 11th place on the finish line spool (order of finish according to the end of the chute)
I was told that in the coaches meeting, the topic of "official" timing was addressed. As most of us know, the torso has always been used at the finish line to determine point of finish. Even when timing chips are used and placed on the shoes, the torso is used to determine the order of finish and a USATF official at the finish line is present to insure the order of the athletes going into the chute is accurate. It was explained to the coaches that the shoe chips would not determine finish order (to prevent kids from kicking their feet out in front of them) Seems pretty obvious.
HOWEVER, because there was no Lynx photo finish system in place (usually an automatic addition at a championship)any discrepancy in the order of finish would need to be verified from the chip time by the spool order and then by the video cameras that were set up at the finish line.
The BYU athlete clearly finished ahead of the Gonzaga athlete at the finish and was placed behind him in the chute by the USATF official at the finish line as per NCAA/USATF rules of torso finish....ok nothing wrong here, however, when the results were posted (remember timing is based on the shoe chips) the Gonzaga runner was placed in front of the BYU runner.....I was told, that upon receipt of the results, a member of the BYU Coaching staff who saw the finish notified meet officials of the discrepancy. When the finish chute spool was reviewed, it showed that indeed there was a discrepancy in the finish order...
At this point the conference personnel and meet officials should have postponed any final results announcements because it was clear that there needed to be a review of the video etc. Unfortunately for BYU this did not happen. Maybe it was due to the miserable weather conditions present and the desire to pack it up and get out of there, but team championship trophies were presented and that was that.
It was only hours later, just prior to the banquet, that the WCC games committee met to determine what would be done. This was done behind closed doors and was very hush hush, in fact, I don't know if any of the coaches besides BYU and Portland were aware of what was going on....even though the results affected everyone that participated that day. (keep in mind Gonzaga narrowly edged San Francisco for 3rd by 2pts)My sources tell me that the ruling was to keep the results exactly how they appeared due to the fact that an official appeal was not filed within 30min of the Official Results being posted. (were there really any "official" results?)
How this all went down is truly a shame. Not only does it make Portland look bad for botching the finish line preparations and being ill equipped to host a championship meet, but it is absolutely screwed a much deserved accomplishment for a group of dedicated student athletes. This needs to become a big deal. These kids pour their guts into workouts all season and race in rain and mud for the opportunity to be recognized for every single person they defeat and every single person matters, every single second.
I have searched and have found absolutely zero in the way of photos, video etc. from this race, although there were multiple cameras filming and taking pics. I challenge anyone who cares about the integrity of our sport to speak up and see that the right thing is done. No matter how embarrassing it is to the WCC or University of Portland.