2010 Meet & Qualification Information
We will once again be hosting a state track & field championship for middle school athletes. The championship meet will be held on May 8, 2010 in the Orlando area—the exact venue is TBD.
Though the same concepts will still be in place and most athletes and meet directors mostly unaffected, there are some significant changes to qualifying and entry.
Most likely almost all of the regional championship meets will still be held around the state; however, we are going to open up the qualifying a bit. Here are some of the major points of the changes:
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There will no longer be any qualifying by place, only auto-qualifying times/marks at designated meets will count.
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Qualifying athletes and teams must enter the state meet separately online and pay a second entry fee. We will no longer be taking a cut of regional entry fees, so in some cases these fees will go down so the costs will likely even out.
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Athletes and teams may compete at MULTIPLE qualifying meets. There may be some meets that still limit entries to certain counties or schools, but that is at their discretion. Some general invitationals may be designated as qualifiers.
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Official county championship meets (provided they comply with the requirements) will count as qualifying meets automatically.
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FHSAA district, regional, and state meets (provided they comply with the requirements) will count as qualifying meets automatically.
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Meet hosts of qualifiers will no longer have to contribute any money to the state championship, use our designated awards or t-shirts. Your meet will be more or less like your own invitational.
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Hosts of qualifying meets that wish to still be endorsed as flrunners.com “regional championships” may still apply to do so and these meets will be granted official recognition as such and permission to use our logo and brand. These meets may be granted additional privileges but may also be under stricter requirements.
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Athletes must be between 6th and 8th grades and 10 years of age through 15 year and 9 months. We will no longer accept younger athletes.
The following requirements must be in place for all meets to be counted as qualifiers:
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Events 400 meters and under must be timed using a fully-automatic timing system with qualified meet officials, equipment, and software.
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Results must be compiled in Hytek or RaceTab format and submitted within 36 hours to flrunners.com. Any further corrections or updates should be handled within the following 24 hours and revised rankings re-submitted.
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All rules, distances, hurdle heights, implement weights, etc. must be conducted using the same standards as specified in the flrunners.com Middle School Track & Field Handbook 2010 Edition.
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The same events that will be competed in at the state championship meet (such as 1500 and 3000) must be conducted at the qualifying meet. The only exception will be for FHSAA and County Championship meets where this might not be possible. All others must comply.
More details are available in the official handbook and other details will be announced in the coming weeks and months. Thank you to everyone for your continued interest and support! We believe this has built a great legacy in the state and done great things for building and encouraging both future stars and good citizens of this world!
If you are interested in having your meet be recognized as an official qualifier, please let us know by contacting Jason Byrne at jason@flrunners.com. More information about the meet and the venue of the state championship will be announced as soon as possible.