How to qualify to SCVAL "Qualifier" Meet

This is to help you understand how athletes qualify on from
the SCVAL Divisional League meets to the SCVAL Qualifier meet.
This information can be found in the SCVAL Track By-Laws.  If
there are any questions, please feel free to contact Hank Lawson or
Walt VanZant.

- All Varsity marks from the El Camino and DeAnza league finals are merged to determine the 
  top 16 in each event.  These competitors will compete in the Qualifier Meet with 
  one exception.  The trials mark of a competitor who did not make the finals 
  will be used to displace a top-16 finals mark.  However, this rule does not 
  apply if the potentially displaced competitor had a better mark in the trials 
  than the competitor attempting to displace him/her. (see below)

- The marks used are from the Finals.  If you did not qualify out of the
  Trials into the Finals then your Trials mark is used.

- If you are DQ'd, DNF or DNR at the Finals which you qualified for, then
  you are done - you're Trials mark may not be used.  This includes alternates
  that could have run at the finals but did not check in - you would be done.

- All track times must be FAT or FAT equivelent.  Weather conditions are
  not considered.

- You then sort the event based on mark and count off the Top 16 marks.
  These are your qualifiers for the next meet.

- There are no alternates.  If someone scratches from the meet then we
  go with just 15, not 16.
  Note: Starting with the 2011 season, places 17-20 will be used as alternates.

- It is strongly urged to comunicate scratches to the person doing the 
  "Seeding" for the meet for we will always seed, up to 2 days before
  the meet, with a full 8 lanes of competitors in the second (fast) heat.

- Final caviat, and most confusing, on qualifying on.  If a non-qualifiers
  time from the Trials beats a qualifiers time in the Finals, that beat person
  would still get to qualify before the non-qualifier would - for example...

Here is an example.  Lawson runs a 17.90 in the DAL trials and VanZant runs 
17.91.  Lawson makes the finals and then hits a hurdle and DNFs.  
Van Zant does not make the finals.  Since Lawson did not make the top 16 finals 
list, VanZant is not displacing Lawson and can displace another runner who is 
on the top 16 finals list.  However, if Lawson finished his finals race in say 
18.50 and this time was good enough to place in the top 16 of Finals finishers,
Van Zant cannot displace him but could potentially displace other competitors.

See under BY-LAW DISCUSSION of the 2003 SCVAL Post Meeting for more info:

"We also voted that when determining whether a runner beat another runner in the 
trials for purposes of section 2.1 of Article VI that we would compare trials times."