High
School Track and Field Rules Changes Focus on Jewelry Violations and Pole Vault
Requirements
INDIANAPOLIS,
IN (July 6, 2011) — The
penalty for wearing jewelry during high school track and field competition will
shift from the team to the individual competitor beginning next season.
In
its June 8-10 meeting in Indianapolis, the National Federation of State High
School Associations (NFHS) Track and Field and Cross Country Rules Committee
addressed the jewelry rule and clarified two rules in the pole vault among its
nine major changes. All changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of
Directors.
The
revised jewelry rule states that “for the first violation, the competitor shall
be required to remove the jewelry before further competition and be issued a
warning that a subsequent violation shall result in a disqualification from the
event.”
“The
rule still prohibits the wearing of jewelry, but the members of the rules
committee and results of the questionnaire strongly support the penalty applying
only to the competitor involved as opposed to the entire team,” said Becky
Oakes, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Track and Field Rules
Committee.
In
Rule 7-5-2, requirements for pole vault competitors were changed. The rule
eliminates the limit of only two layers of tape on the grip end but still requires
any tape placed on the pole to be of uniform thickness on the grip end.
In
addition, Rule 7-5-25 clarifies who may touch or catch the pole and under what
circumstances touching the pole is not allowed. The rule reads, “No person
shall be allowed to touch the vaulting pole except an assigned official,
assigned pole catcher or the competitor, when circumstances warrant, but never
to prevent the pole from dislodging the bar.”
“The competitor or designated official
can catch the pole, but the touch or catch by the competitor that prevents the
crossbar from being dislodged is still a foul,” Oakes said.
The committee also made updates to
Rule 9-1-1 regarding the method of measuring a cross country course that
reflect trends in the sport. The cross country course shall be measured along
the shortest possible route that a runner may take, as opposed to measuring
down the middle of the course.
Another change now makes it legal for
competitors to wear visible undergarments that have a contrasting stitching to the
color of the single, solid color of the undergarment. The stitching must function
in the construction of the undergarment and not as a design.
Other rules changes approved by the
committee include:
·
Rule 3-4-2: The
referee retains clerical authority over the contest through the completion of
any reports, including those imposing disqualifications, that are responsive to
actions occurring while the referee had jurisdiction. State associations may
intercede in the event of unusual incidents after the referee’s jurisdiction
has ended or in the event that a contest is terminated prior to the conclusion
of regulation play.
·
Rule 5-7-3:
The starting command for individual races – or opening relay legs of 800 meters
or more outdoors and 600 meters or more indoors – shall be to instruct all
competitors to take a position three meters behind the starting line or dashed
arc behind the line. With “On your marks,” the competitors step to the starting
line.
·
Rule 7-4-10: The
games committee may assign competitors to flights of no less than five for
preliminary competition or may conduct the event in continuing flights. In continuing flights, the first five
competitors, as determined by the games committee, constitute a flight. As a
contestant clears the bar, passes a turn at the height or is eliminated, the
next competitor in order will be moved up so that the number of competitors in
the active flight remains constant. When the field is down to eight or fewer
competitors, it is recommended that participants are called as listed on the
event sheet.
·
Rule 9-3-3: Updates
were made to this rule that address the use of bib transponders or timing chips
on the shoes and the official order of finish when the computerized item(s) are
used.
A
complete listing of all rules changes approved by the committee is available on
the NFHS Web site at www.nfhs.org.
Click on “Athletics & Fine Arts Activities” on the home page, and select
“Track and Field.”
Outdoor
track and field is the second-most popular sport for boys, with 572,123
participants, and most popular sport for girls, with 469,177 participants, at
the high school level, according to the 2010-11 NFHS Athletics Participation
Survey. The sport ranks second in school sponsorship with 16,011 schools
sponsoring the sport for boys and 15,923 sponsoring the sport for girls.