The NCAA News - News and Features

February 10, 1997

Too much time on their hands?

Some coaches advocate cutting the III outdoor track championships down to a three-day format

BY STEPHEN R. HAGWELL
Staff Writer

Mark Guthrie firmly believes in making the most of his time.

As men's track and field coach at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, Guthrie finds few things that frustrate him as much as periods of inactivity.

Unfortunately, Guthrie often experiences such periods at the Division III Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Stating that the championships have become too long and too drawn out, Guthrie and a growing number of coaches advocate the adoption of a three-day championships format. Division III has used a four-day format since the inception of the women's championships in 1982.

"There is so much dead time, it's unbelievable," Guthrie said. "You don't see that in a regular meet. We run our conference meet in two days. But when we get to the national meet we build in all this extra time. Why?

"There is no reason we should take four days to run the meet. We've taken the meet and made it so long that nobody stays around to watch the whole thing.

"All this dead time is hurting the sport."

Coaches will discuss issue

Coaches will get a chance to debate the issue soon.

The Division III subcommittee of the NCAA Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee is preparing to survey coaches on possible adoption of a three-day championships format. The survey, which is tentatively scheduled to be distributed in February, includes a proposed three-day championships schedule developed by Bill Terriquez, men's track and field coach at Carleton College.

"In talking with coaches, the biggest issue related to making the meet more exciting for the spectator," Terriquez said. "After looking at the championships, they're always exciting if you have kids involved, if you know track. But if you don't know track, if you don't have kids involved, there tends to be a lot of dead time.

"I've talked with a lot of constituents who say, 'It's a great meet, but by the fourth day, we're bored to tears.' "

Based on reaction thus far, there is support for the proposal.

At the United States Track Coaches Association convention in December, members of the NCAA Division III Track Coaches Association voted overwhelmingly to forward -- with some modifications -- the proposal to the Division III subcommittee.

Little change in structure

What may surprise coaches is how little the proposal changes the structure of the championships. Aside from starting approximately an hour earlier each day and reducing the time between events, the proposal structure is very similar to the current championships.

How can four days of competition be condensed into three days without dramatically changing the structure? Qualifying and finals in eight field events would be held consecutively, and in some cases, running events and field events would be held concurrently.

Currently, field-events qualifying and finals are held on separate days, and multiple events and field events typically start several hours before running events. Division III is the only division to hold field-events qualifying and finals on separate days.

"One of the things we've somewhat decided, apparently in the past, is the need to single out and highlight field events," said Paul Olsen, men's track and field coach at Augustana College (Illinois). "So what's to stop us from starting the hammer at 1:30 and the 400 hurdles at 1:30?

"What we have to do is change our notion of what a track meet should be and look like. Simply because we've done it this way for years doesn't mean that it has to continue.

"We need to make sure that we provide both for the athletes and for spectators a venue that is compact, intense and exciting. When we sit in a meet with half-hour or 45 minute periods of dead time, we're not doing the sport a favor."

Concern about large field size

Because of the size of the championships -- the Division III field includes a maximum of 344 men and 315 women competing -- some coaches are concerned about whether the meet can be conducted in three days without negatively impacting the event.

Even with the elimination of separate field-events qualifying and final competition, they fear that compressing the championships into three days would sacrifice the event's quality and burden the student-athletes.

But Guthrie contends shortening the meet will improve quality.

"Look at how much time is going on when you just have field events and no track events. That's killing fan interest," Guthrie said. "We should be able to have activity the entire time without great lapses."

Makes 'doubling' more difficult

While a more compact format may increase excitement and interest, it is not without its drawbacks. One area of concern is the practice of "doubling," in which an athlete competes from two to as many as four separate events.

Given that the three-day championships would include the same number of events and qualifying rounds as currently offered, it will become more difficult to "double" athletes in events. In fact, some coaches fear that great performances -- such as those recorded by Terry Anders of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Ambo Bati of Augustana (Illinois) at the 1996 championships -- would be virtually eliminated.

Anders became the first NCAA championships competitor to sweep the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes, while Bati won the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs and placed third in the 1,500-meter run.

"What you gain by going to a three-day meet, there are probably commensurate losses by making that change," Olsen said. "That's why this is such a difficult question. It's certainly not easy for me. Our kid, Ambo Bati, scored 26 points at the national meet. If he can't double, that means we can't score as many points. Does that make it a worse meet?

"We have to look at the sport collectively, generally and historically instead of at our own specific programs. That's a tough thing to do. It's tough for me, too."

Impact on team competition

Whether a reduction in doubling is positive or negative is one question coaches must answer. One thing is certain, however: A three-day format will impact the outcome of the team title race.

With reduced doubling, many teams that challenged in the past for the title with only a handful of athletes may no longer find themselves in the title hunt.

"You're going to have the proverbial argument that this is unfair to distance runners because now they have to do the same thing that took four days in three days, and this even makes it more advantageous to have a sprint team," Terriquez said. "I would simply state that when you look at a schedule, you've got to learn to manipulate the schedule the best way you can for your team."

Guthrie hopes that coaches take the time to review the three-day proposal. He believes that if they review it objectively, they will conclude that reducing the championships to three days is in the sport's best interests.

"What we need to do is disassociate ourselves and our programs from the process," Guthrie said. "We have to stand back and ask: 'Is a three-day meet in the better interest of the student-athlete and the sport than a four-day meet?' That's how we have to approach this thing. Will this be the end-all for our problems? No. There are a lot of issues we need to address.

"I do believe that we have got to tighten up the meet to keep interest. People will come back. It's not going to happen overnight, it may take 10 years, but we've got to tighten it up so people will come back."