Jumping to Conclusions -- Bad Luck Strikes H.S. TJ:er

[EPelle]

http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=15603

• WACO – Ellison's Samantha Hamilton couldn't believe what she heard.
  
  After tying for first in the preliminaries with a triple-jump of 38 feet, 6 1/2 inches during the first day of the Region II 5A Track and Field championships at the Hart-Patterson Track Complex in Waco, Hamilton needed to break the 39-foot barrier on her third and final jump in the finals.
  
  "I was just thinking that I can do better,'" Hamilton said later about going into her final jump.
  
  Hamilton sprinted down the runway, made the proper steps and landed 39 feet, 3 3/4 inches away from the white line. (more)

"The deal was, what we heard was 39 feet, 3 3/4 and what they had officially was 39 and 3/4," Callis said after the meeting with the officials. "So, what's going to happen is Sam is going to be third and she's not going to state.

"It's disappointing. She came in here at this meet as the No. 1 jumper in the state, but she's not going to state."

[eldrick]

well,

that's one poor gal who is now sold on the metric system for life !

[dukehjsteve]

I've officiated my share of horizontals, and I can attest that it is very easy to write down the wrong distance, particularly if you are the one crouching over, reading the measurement, then standing up and writing down what you stated verbally 5-10 seconds ago. And I bet in most HS meets one official does both tasks... for sure that's so in duals. Better, if possible, to have a separate recorder, to write down what the measurer states verbally, and for the recorder then to verbally repeat what he/she just wrote down. But in any event, once it is written down, and the event moves on, what is written is the Whole Ballgame.

[jhc68]

That's a rough situation... especially rough when a 39 foot-plus jump doesn't advance a kid to the next meet!

[lonewolf]

I've officiated my share of horizontals, and I can attest that it is very easy to write down the wrong distance, particularly if you are the one crouching over, reading the measurement, then standing up and writing down what you stated verbally 5-10 seconds ago. And I bet in most HS meets one official does both tasks... for sure that's so in duals. Better, if possible, to have a separate recorder, to write down what the measurer states verbally, and for the recorder then to verbally repeat what he/she just wrote down. But in any event, once it is written down, and the event moves on, what is written is the Whole Ballgame.

Amen!.. I echo everything jukehjsteve said.. Baylor has a compliment of competent horizontal officials.The standard practice there is to have both a first recorder, ( the official record) and a second recorder, who reads the tape. The recorder repeats the measurement back to the second recorder who then sits down and makes his own record. They compare records at the end of each flight.. I don't know who was working this meet but sometimes they do get fragmented working the district and regional meets in their home areas on the same day..
I agree with eldrick that the metric system is less prone to recording error... and IMO is easier and faster to place and score accurately.. although I still have some mental benchmarks to translate how far they are really jumping....

[eldrick]

I agree that the metric system is less prone to recording error... and IMO is easier and faster to place and score accurately.. although I still have some mental benchmarks to translate how far they are really jumping....

wolfy

"mental benchmarks" are unnecceasary baggage - you are simply asked to accurately measure - be it 13.00m or 19.00m for the jump - whatever preconceptions you may have of benchmarks may just cloud judgement

measure it, measure again & measure a 3rd time - record it

let the athlete/coach/team/joe public/ public/t & f news do the considering of "mental benchmarks" after

( & i can assure you, reading in press afterwards, jon edwards had NO idea that his 18.29wr meant he was the 1st man to break 60' ! )

[lonewolf]

eldrick, I don't consider my "mental benchmarks" as baggage at all.. they are strictly and simply internal comparisions to past experience when things were done in feet and inches.. now, during and after a metric competition, I think metric.. so much easier.. conversely, when I am required by HS rules to measure in imperial, I may mentally translate to metric to compare how this HS kid would have placed in today's or yesterday collegiate metric competition.. takes no time or effort.. no harm done..

[lonewolf]

Maybe that is 'nuf sed but to expound a little further...as long as the US thinks imperial, you kinda have to swing both ways.. for instance, I always put down a runway tape, zeroed at the foul line, so I don't have a dozen athletes wanting to stretch a tape during warmups.. ( not 100% efficient ...someone will want to measure from the back or center of the board and can't figure out how to add the adjusted distance to the reading on the tape, or, whichever side you put the tape on, someone will want their marks on the other side and apparently cannot project the mark the width of the runway ) ....I make sure the zero is at the same point on both sides of the tape..even though the competition is metric, the US jumpers know their runway marks in imperial while foreign athletes know theirs in metric....usually they can figure out to flip the tape over..

[Mennisco]

I've officiated my share of horizontals....

Cool karma dude!

[26mi235]

Well, those touting the metric system need to account for possibly a 3 foot error (was 7.06 recorded as 7.76 or what). From what I have read so far, the 'winning' jump was not the distance attributed to him.

[EPelle]

(her)

[dukehjsteve]

I've officiated my share of horizontals....

Cool karma dude!

Well there is indeed "horizontal" THAT, isn't there ?!

Which reminds me of an old saw:

" If you tell a woman you love her, it only counts if the lights are on and you are standing up."

[dukehjsteve]

Re discussion of measuring / recording in feet/inches vs. meters/centimeters, I too have done both and there is NO COMPARISON... metrics is immeasurely ( pun intended) easier. That doesn't mean I like 'em as a fan, but I do like 'em as a measuring official.

[26mi235]

(her)

him, I was referring to the USC/UCLA dual with the measurement question in the LJ.

[gh]

We see full-meter errors in the long jump every year, pretty much. Average official has no feel for what the marks really mean in metric, so no alarm bells go off.