State XC Course Measurement

State XC Course Measurement

Postby sundog » Sun Sep 24, 2017 1:20 pm

It should have been obvious to anyone watching the Jansen invite in Valley City yesterday that the courses were well short of the stated distances. I'm kicking myself for not getting a wheel on it yesterday when I had the chance. Based on a quick analysis, I would estimate, conservatively, the 5K course was 40 seconds short, approximately 200m. Looking at boys and girls results from across the state, both by time and head-to-head against their peers, it appears it could be as much as 300 meters short!

I don't know if the NDSHSAA has a different approach to certifying the courses prior to state competitions, but I certainly hope they do. If the course isn't measured to a legitimate 5000m and it stays the same as it was yesterday, there are going to be a lot of excited coaches, tons of new personal and school records, and North Dakota could see winning times in the 16s for girls and 14s on the boys side.

I'm also curious to see how rankings will be affected by this situation. Yesterday, Emily Goldade ran 17:54 (2) and Lindsay Werner (7) ran 18:54, both of which were faster than Kelby Rinas 18:59 (1), Rachel Torrey 19:49 (3), Alexis Roehl 20:21 (4), and Mikayla Weiss 20:44 (6) ran at Griak. Just two weeks ago, Rinas dominated Werner by 1:06 and Goldade by 1:26 head-to-head at the Mandan Kiwanis meet. If these times are taken at face value, there is going to be a serious shake up in the rankings this week.

Looking forward to the replies on this one!
Last edited by sundog on Sun Oct 29, 2017 6:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: MASSIVE Foul-up on State XC Course Measurement

Postby Run4Fun2009 » Sun Sep 24, 2017 1:28 pm

Valley City has sadly never been the most accurate course and State has been on it in the past! We were in Milaca so I do not know how short the VC course may have been.

EDIT: Received word that it was indeed short...but was made short because of Golf Course management not allowing certain areas to be run on by so many athletes; Short by 150-200 meters. So course will be remeasured for State and will work towards being the correct distance.

Speaking from experience this year...sometimes you can't do what you want at certain courses because of management decisions.
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Re: MASSIVE Foul-up on State XC Course Measurement

Postby sundog » Sun Sep 24, 2017 2:30 pm

I will definitely get a wheel on it on October 28!

Really sad that this is an ongoing issue. The course must vary from year to year, because looking over results from last year's EDC meet at Bjornson, the times are much more in line with a full 5000m course. When the kids are sharpened and tapered but still running thirty seconds slower than yesterday, five weeks out, you know something is off. :D
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Re: MASSIVE Foul-up on State XC Course Measurement

Postby theman » Mon Sep 25, 2017 8:28 am

Whenever I hear "golf course management" I throw up in my mouth a little.
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Re: MASSIVE Foul-up on State XC Course Measurement

Postby Run4Fun2009 » Mon Sep 25, 2017 8:50 am

theman wrote:Whenever I hear "golf course management" I throw up in my mouth a little.


One Meet had issues this year because the city's a park District wouldn't allow any paint markings (including a start/finish line). Talk about pathetic!
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