4x800 @ State Meet - Track 2003
Fellow Coaches:
I just returned from the CIF Track & Field Advisory Committee meeting, where Doug Speck brought up the idea of competing the 4 x 800 relay
as part of our regular order of events. Apparently, about 2/3 or more of the states now compete that relay as part of their state meet, as well as in
dual meets and league meets.
Currently, only the North coast Section contests the 4 x 800, and this is done as an exhibition during the trials of our section finals.
Every coach at the table was very enthusiastic about having the 4 x 800 being considered as an addition to the California order of events.
According to the National Federation Rule Book, the 4 x 800 is most often placed as the first event in a meet.
Roger Blake, the associate director of CIF who sits on the track advisory committee, said that this is one of the types of changes that has to come
from leagues and sections.
I have a recommendation to make to you fellow coaches, if you would like to see the 4 x 800 included in the California sections and state meet:
persuade, pressure, appeal to, beg, supplicate, innundate and otherwise levy a great amount of communication to your section offices and ask
them to include the 4 x 800 at your section meet as an exhibition event this year or next. (you can find all the section offices' e-mail at
http://www.cifccs.org/sections.htm).
If we can get several of the sections to include this event, then it is only a short step to have league qualifiers to the section meet, and then the state
can include this event at the state level.
This event is a long-overdue recognition of the distance side of the track events. High school track is a sprint dominated sport, with distance only
being a factor in 3 of the 10 running events. If we can get the 4 x 800 on the books in enough places, then we can get it included officially at the
state meet.
Please consider being a part of this option we have to make a change soon (within 2 or 3 years).
If you have any suggestions or comments, please post those so we all can share in this possibility.
Peter Brewer
Castro Valley