loudoun valley has 11 boys out of 24 in the state 3200 championship

Why is it unfair? It is true that competition in Virginia is a little diluted because they have six high school classes. I'm not sure how many high schools sponsor indoor track these days, used to be pretty sporadic, especially in the lower classes but maybe that has changed. Anyway, if the rule is that the fastest people get to run, then that is a perfectly fair rule.

ric flair woo wrote:

seems a little unfair or the competition in VA just sucks. how does 1 school become allowed to have 11 boys enter 1 event for the state championship? illinois you are allowed 2 at most, even if you had 3 boys hit qualifying standard. thoughts?

don't be an idiot wrote:

Why is it unfair?

I get it, they are playing in the rules. but half of the state championship field is from 1 high school and multiple runners they sent didn't even break 10. come on man

VA doesn't need 6 classes, that's their issue...NY has no classes indoors despite having equally strong (if not stronger) distance runners. That said, let the fastest runners run...it's not Loudoun's fault that they have a strong team.

Life isn't fair amigo. Those 11 boys have excellent coaching and all hit the same standard as everybody else would have to. I think it's great that there are big powerhouse schools where lots of kids want to run and where lots of great runners are produced. If you don't let them run at state then they'll be discouraged and quit.

gahagand wrote:

VA doesn't need 6 classes, that's their issue...NY has no classes indoors despite having equally strong (if not stronger) distance runners. That said, let the fastest runners run...it's not Loudoun's fault that they have a strong team.

they do have a strong team but they also sent multiple people for the 3200 that can't break 10 minutes. I agree that there should be less classes. obviously its diluted the talent level. i mean half of the state championship field didn't break 10. at first glance you would think its a frosh/soph race. winning time 9:26 and only half the field breaking 10

Jim Walmsley Superfan wrote:

If you don't let them run at state then they'll be discouraged and quit.

which is exactly what you are doing to the rest of the schools in the state when you let 1 good school take a majority of the spots

Jim Walmsley Superfan wrote:

Life isn't fair amigo. Those 11 boys have excellent coaching and all hit the same standard as everybody else would have to. I think it's great that there are big powerhouse schools where lots of kids want to run and where lots of great runners are produced. If you don't let them run at state then they'll be discouraged and quit.

shut up twink

ric flair woo wrote:

Jim Walmsley Superfan wrote:

If you don't let them run at state then they'll be discouraged and quit.

which is exactly what you are doing to the rest of the schools in the state when you let 1 good school take a majority of the spots

Here's the difference:

If you go to another school you just have to run a few seconds faster (beat the 11th place Loudon Valley guy) to make it to state

If you're the 11th best guy on Loudon Valley you would have to beat the top 2 studs on your team or you'll NEVER go to state

Yes, 6 classes is ridiculous for a lot of sports, but especially for sports with such relatively low participation as indoor track. Anything more than 4 is too many for VA. For low participation sports they should go to 2 or 3.

gahagand wrote:

VA doesn't need 6 classes, that's their issue...NY has no classes indoors despite having equally strong (if not stronger) distance runners. That said, let the fastest runners run...it's not Loudoun's fault that they have a strong team.

You are the one who said it was unfair. I am just trying to understand what you think is unfair about it. Fastest runners go to the postseason seems like a perfectly fair principle to me. Of course I'm also fine with a rule that says schools are limited to X number of competitors in an event. That encourages participation and representation across the commonwealth, which is a worthwhile goal as well in scholastic competition, but it seems inherently less fair to individual runners.

ric flair woo wrote:

don't be an idiot wrote:

Why is it unfair?

I get it, they are playing in the rules. but half of the state championship field is from 1 high school and multiple runners they sent didn't even break 10. come on man

If they have the capacity to hold a meet with 6 divisions then they should do it. Who are you to say what the correct number of divisions is? Remember a meet with more competitors also means more fans

Hardloper wrote:

If they have the capacity to hold a meet with 6 divisions then they should do it. Who are you to say what the correct number of divisions is?

LOL at declaring six to be the proper number of divisions while scoffing at the audacity of someone else saying how many divisions there should be.

Hardloper wrote:

If they have the capacity to hold a meet with 6 divisions then they should do it. Who are you to say what the correct number of divisions is?

I'm a fan that realizes how irrelevant a state title is if the qualifying time is 10:34 (that is the boys qualifying time for divisions 1A and 2A in Virginia). with your argument, why not have 30 divisions? there is enough schools in the state, so they have the capacity for it.

ric flair woo wrote:

don't be an idiot wrote:

Why is it unfair?

I get it, they are playing in the rules. but half of the state championship field is from 1 high school and multiple runners they sent didn't even break 10. come on man

Then make all the other high schoolers get faster to meet the state standard.

The correct number of divisions for every state in this country except for a few should not be more than 3. Virginia is idiotic. That said, it's not Loudoun Valley's fault.

Good thing they were all there. They need to help carrying noah's family's ego.

Are we still talking about this? Good for Loudoun Valley for having a good program. They have a great 4A program. There program details are no secret. Let the other schools train the Tinman Way too.

But, getting rid of the 6 classifications is NOT the answer. It would destroy the lower populated school systems 1A, 2A, etc. You would be wiping-out whole counties, whole school systems, whole portions of the state from competition.

Those kids know they´re not going to run in college, but they enjoy healthy competition amongst themselves & pride themselves in their ability within the parameters & limitations of geography, school systems, etc.

People are clamoring to see LV run against upper classification school systems. That´s what INVITATIONALS are for! Classifications are based on school populations.

If you really care about REAL fairness & equality, give Loudoun County--the richest county in the country--money to the impoverished portions of the state (read: south western Virginia or Tidewater area). How good could some of these smaller schools as a whole be with a good track to train on, class offerings to prepare them for college, businesses/jobs to employee their parents, etc?

I can tell you that I teach & coach in rural Virginia & there´s a brutality of life that transcends the sport of track. Students will no access to health services, no job opportunities for their parents, an aura of low expectations for their lives. It´s tough.

Here´s two running stories to put things in perspective:

1.) I have runners who share spikes in track season. Kid runs the 1600, lends his spikes to his friend to run the 800, who then returns them so the kid can run the 3200, who shares them a second time for the 4X4. Oh, in small schools, you are expected to run multiple events at every meet. There´s no specializing.

2.) My team never stops after meets to eat. Pasta parties are small gatherings where runners skip because they don´t have any food at home to bring. I remember early in my coaching career catching an athlete running really slowly on her run. I yelled at her for sandbagging. She told me how there´s no extra food in her house to support her training. Sobering moment in coaching.

So, before you destroy the VHSL to see Loudoun Valley race some other NOVA school, I urge you to think about the bigger picture of life. Is the VHSL perfect? Nope. But, it´s not that bad. You probably don´t realize how big of a difference 100 students are between two school systems until you take a look at these smaller school systems. I´ve seen it for years now. While 100 students might not seem like a lot, but it can be the difference between having a #5 on your XC team & your team getting knocked out of the championship season. Small school systems 3A, 2A, 1A struggle to field teams. Often, there´s no JV teams. Thereś, hopefully, enough bodies to put into track events.

*Their

Opps: THEIR program details are no secret. Let the other schools train the Tinman Way too.

Illinois has 50% more people but only 3 divisions. Illinois has just as many small schools.