Hello, recently at my MHSAA (Michigan) state meet I ran a qualifying time for the New Balance Outdoor Nationals One mile run. I would very much like to run and face better competition that I will come across, but I have run into a slight issue. My athletic director called our state interpreter on bylaws of track and field, he said I would need to go to a USATF sanctioned meet by the cutoff registration time for nationals by June 8th. I do not see how this ties in at all, due to the fact that most athletes in our state use their MHSAA state meet PR for their qualifying time! According to Section 12(B) of the Regulation 1 in our state handbook it states "– After once representing any MHSAA
member school in competition in any MHSAA
Tournament sport, a student shall not compete at any
time in any MHSAA Tournament sport in any of the
following events: (1) Any event which is or purports to
be an “All-Star” contest, regardless of the method of
selection; (2) “All-Star” fundraising events or similar
exhibitions if they involve contestants other than the
students and faculty of that student’s school; (3) Any
event which is or purports to be a national high school
championship, or the qualification thereto.
Participation in such a contest by a high school student
shall cause that student to become ineligible for all
interscholastic athletics for a maximum period of one
year of school enrollment from the date of the athlete’s
last violation of this Regulation."
Well this scared my athletic director and I to the point we are not completely sure about the trade-off. The only thing I truly do not understand is how athletes in Michigan compete in that meet regularly without having to go to a USATF sanctioned meet to gain a qualifying time. The list goes on and on for who competes in it! Is there anyone here who can shed some light on the subject and illiterate for what I would need to do? Or is what most people in my state do in a way a rule bending issue, and they just risk it? Any feedback would be well appreciated