The Central Coast Section recently changed the way athletes qualify for its track and field championships by eliminating the sub-sectional qualifying round.
Though the ramifications of this decision remain to be seen -- whether or not a talented athlete misses the cut -- it has already drawn criticism from coaches.
``This is really limiting us in our ability to get kids into the finals,'' Mt. Pleasant Coach Steve Nelson said. ``This is not a good situation for track. It's bad, bad news.''
The CCS board of managers passed a proposal to eliminate the sub-sectional round and advance athletes directly from league finals to the CCS semifinals. By cutting the sub-sectionals, athletes have one fewer opportunity to qualify.
The CCS said it needed a change because a high number of athletes either scratched on the day of the sub-sectionals or simply didn't show up. CCS Commissioner Nancy Lazenby Blaser said records over the past three seasons indicated that number was nearly 70 percent.
This meant coaches were putting in substitutes that had not recorded a qualifying mark, and races were being run with several empty lanes.
``There are a lot of people that wanted it to be a big, fun invitational meet,'' Lazenby Blaser said. ``But that's not what the playoffs are for. We think this is better. We don't think we're going to leave any kids home who would have been in the semifinals otherwise. We'll see if we're right.''
A committee of coaches voted overwhelmingly to keep the postseason status quo -- Nelson said the vote was 9-2. The CCS, however, said the sub-sectionals had gotten out of hand. So the section presented a staff proposal to the board of managers (a committee of principals).
The biggest argument against the change is that athletes who begin to peak now must deliver at a high level for three consecutive weeks rather than saving their best performances for the CCS finals and state championships.
``Now the borderline kids have to go even harder, and the the top kids have to come with it at league meet and every meet after that,'' Nelson said. ``I understand that's competition. But it makes it a lot harder on everybody.''
The CCS has given each league a number of automatic qualifiers, ranging from nine for the Blossom Valley Athletic League (consisting of 22 schools for boys sports) to one for the Girls Private School Athletic League (five schools).
But the CCS hopes provisions for at-large berths (any athlete recording one of the top eight marks in the CCS on the day of league finals automatically advances) will ensure that the top athletes advance. Longtime Bellarmine Coach Terry Ward thinks the new format will work, with a few changes, specifically establishing automatic qualifying marks that could be achieved at any time during the season.
``That would take care of any kid that peaked early, or had already hit a mark so even if he was injured, he knows he's going on,'' Ward said.
BVAL to hold own qualifier
Because of the changes in qualifying for the CCS meet, the BVAL will hold a league meet Saturday at Mt. Pleasant involving all three divisions. The league will determine its nine automatic qualifiers for boys and 10 for girls in each event.
Field events begin at 10 a.m. and running events at noon. Admission is $5.
State home run record
Pacific Grove's Trevor Howell homered last week for the 15th time this season and the 43rd of his high school career, the latter three shy of the state record. Howell has one more regular-season game -- today against Greenfield -- before the CCS playoffs, which begin Wednesday. Pacific Grove probably will qualify in Division III.
• Sacred Heart Cathedral's Shannon Rowbury ran the 1,600-meter event in 4 minutes, 51 seconds Thursday at the GPSL final, giving her the top time in the state and fourth-best in the nation. Rowbury is the defending state champion in the 800.