Florida sprinters are dominant and deep. A look at the national rankings in any sprint event or relay will tell you all that you need to know: Florida is number one, only possibly rivaled by Texas and California. From that perspective, why not actively seek to provide more opportunities for these nationally ranked athletes to compete at the state meet?
In January the FHSAA approved the 4x200 meter relay as an official event that may be contested during regular season meets this season. While uncommon in Florida, this relay is an officially recognized NFHS event, and it is contested as a state championship event in many states including Texas, Illinois, New York, Colorado, and Ohio. Why not Florida?
There are perhaps two main counter-arguments to the idea:
1) It could over-extend athletes who may already be competing in an individual event and the 4x100 and/or 4x400. While this is a legitimate concern, it is a coaching issue to decide which athletes should run in which events and would have be decided upon with that in mind. Further, if we ever succeed in convincing the FHSAA to go two a two-day state meet format (another topic altogether) then the fatigue factor would be greatly mitigated.
2) It could create a further imbalance in team scoring by putting additional weight on the sprinting events over distance or field events. Of course, this is true, but it has worked effectively in other states. In states like Ohio, they have run all four relays for years and the world has not come grinding to a halt. Texas doesn't even run a 4x800! So it is especially pronounced there. The point being it has worked elsewhere, and should our national class sprinters not be showcased in this way?
This article is clearly stating the case for adding the event; however, its purpose is not to make a mandate of what should happen. It is to state the case for it and hopefully elicit some further discussion on why it is a great idea or why it his a horrible idea. If nothing else, it deserves to be on the table.
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