2005 State Qualifying


Jan 18, 2005

Per State Advisory Board minutes

Teams

CCS (baseline 2 entries)

DI Boys: 2
DI Girls: 2

DII Boys: 3
DII Girls: 3

DIII Boys: 4 
DIII Girls: 3

DIV Boys: 4
DIV Girls: 3

DV Boys: 3 
DV Girls: 3

Individuals

2 teams advancing - finish in Top 12, be Top 5 individuals not on an advancing team
3 teams advancing - finish in Top 14, be Top 5 individuals not on an advancing team
4 teams advancing - finish in Top 16, be Top 5 individuals not on an advancing team

Calculating At-Large Berths
Folks,

It's easiest to use an example to demonstrate how the state meet berths are allocated. 
So let's take Division III boys as an example.

First, all sections have a "baseline" number of entries in every division. Note that 
some sections may have no entries in a particular division (for example, the Northern 
section does not have any Division I entries since they don't have any schools that 
large). The baseline numbers for Division III boys are as follows:

CCS - 2
CS - 2
LAS - 0
NCS - 2
NS - 1
OS - 0
SDS - 2
SFS - 0
SJS - 2
SS - 4

Which yields a total of 15 "baseline" entries.

Now, the state has decided to allow a maximum of 23 teams per division, thus there are 
8 "extra" spots that can be awarded. The allocation of these spots is based on the number 
of top 10 finishes at the state meet that each section has achieved in the previous 4 
years. Thus, for this year's meet, it is based on the 2001-2004 state meets.

Here are the number of top 10 state meet finishes in DIII boys per section (I've left out 
the sections that have no entries).

Section 2001 2002 2003 2004 Total
CCS 2 1 3 2 8
CS 0 0 0 0 0
NCS 2 2 2 2 8
NS 0 0 0 0 0
SDS 2 2 0 1 5
SJS 0 1 0 0 1
SS 4 4 5 5 18

Since there are 40 total top 10 finishes over 4 years, you can calculate the percentage of 
top 10 finished per section:

CCS: 8/40=0.2
NCS: 8/40=0.2
SDS: 5/40=0.125
SJS: 1/40=0.025
SS : 18/40=0.45

Now multiply by 8 (the number of "extra" spots) to get the "amount" of the extra spots that 
each section has earned:

CCS: 1.6
NCS: 1.6
SDS: 1
SJS: 0.2
SS : 3.6

Obviously, you can't award fractional team spots, so you have to follow a logical procedure.

First, all whole number spots are awarded. Thus the CCS, NCS, and SDS get one more each and 
the SS gets 3 more. This accounts for 6 of the 8 extra spots.

Second, the highest fractions get the next spots. Now, the CCS, NCS, and SS are "tied" at 0.6. 
However, one of the other rules is that no section can have more than 7 total entries. Since 
the SS has already reached 7 entries, then the CCS and NCS get the final 2 spots.

Thus, the final allocation of state meet berths for DIII boys is:

CCS - 4
CS - 2
LAS - 0
NCS - 4
NS - 1
OS - 0
SDS - 3
SFS - 0
SJS - 2
SS - 7

This procedure is repeated for all divisions and both genders.

A few comments. Because of the 7 team maximum, there are cases where the Southern Section has 
"earned" an even higher percentage of the available extra berths. Thus, there are cases where 
a section can receive an extra berth with only a single top 10 finish in the previous 4 years. 
We haven't yet reached a scenario where an extra berth can go unclaimed (where not enough other 
sections have any top 10 finishes), but it is a mathematical possibility. The Advisory committee 
has recognized this possibility and has considered using top 12 finishes as a criteria if that 
case arises.

Finally, yes, these numbers are recalculated every year using the most recent 4 years of state 
meet results. It may seem cumbersome at first, but once you set it up once, subsequent years are 
fairly quick to calculate.

-ernie lee.
Henry M. Gunn Cross Country.

Individuals Qualifying to State

  They still must be in the top 5 not on a qualifying
team, but the "pool" is now variable:

1 team qualifier - in the top 8
2 - 12
3 - 14
4 - 16
5 - 18
6+ - 20

So for CCS in DII with 3 teams it's the top 5 but they
need to be in the top 14.  Note, this information is
incorrect in the State Meet Handbook, but it is correct
in the State By-Laws (1702).