The Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet at its inaugural meeting in the new governance structure approved a two-site format that will serve as the first round of the Division I men’s and women’s outdoor track and field championships beginning in 2010.

The two-site format, which will be conducted over a three-day period, will replace the current regional qualifying system that raised concerns about competitive equity and fairness in advancement.

Under the new plan, institutions will be assigned to either the East or West site for the first round of competition.

The top 48 student-athletes in each individual event at each site will be determined by a national descending-order list of season-best performances. The top 12 qualifiers at both sites will advance to the championship finals.

The only exception for individual-event competitors will be heptathlon and decathlon student-athletes, who will participate only at the finals site.

Additionally, the top 24 relay teams in each event will compete at one of the first-round sites. Again, these competitors will be determined by a national descending-order list. The top eight teams in each relay at both sites will advance to the finals.

Outdoor track and field realignment has been on the radar of the former Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet – particularly the Bracket/Format Subcommittee – for almost three years.

A study group of members from the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee and the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association proposed the two-site, three-day format (along with an alternative three-site, three-day format). The cabinet preferred the two-site format because it best addressed competitive-equity and access concerns.

“Clearly, there was a strong consensus for this format,” said cabinet Chair Jeff Schemmel, the director of athletics at San Diego State. “There was a strong feeling in the room that although both proposals would be an improvement over the current regional format, the two-site recommendation was the best format. All 31 of the division’s conferences were represented, so my sense is that everyone will be happy with this.”

Schemmel noted that the new first-round format eliminates the former automatic-qualification element into the field. Although a national descending-order list will be used to determine first-round competitors, research shows that more than 95 percent of past conference champions would have earned a spot in the first round in the new format.

About 1,700-1,900 student-athletes will compete at each of the first-round sites.

The East site will host teams from the following states: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

Institutions in the remaining states will send their student-athletes to the West site.

Baseball legislation

In a legislative matter, the cabinet voted to support proposal No. 2008-48, which would reduce the maximum number of contests in baseball from 56 to 52.

The cabinet believes the proposal addresses the challenges related to the compression of baseball schedules and likely would result in less missed class time in the spring, which could aid academic performance.

The cabinet considered combining proposal No. 2008-46, which would have started the playing season a week earlier, and 2008-48. Eventually, cabinet members did not believe 2008-46 would be consistent with the recent changes designed to enhance competitive equity among teams from the Northern and Sun Belt regions.

“When you condense the season and still play 56 games, there is no room other than during the middle of the week to play those additional games,” Schemmel said. “There was clear concern about that.”