PREP REPORT: Baseball, track top agenda

By Scott Stocker, Rocky Mountain News (Contact), Gerry Valerio, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 2, 2008 at 6 p.m.

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Possible changes in the state basketball tournaments and the state track meet will take center stage at the Colorado High School Activities Association's Board of Control meeting April 10.

The association's 67-member legislative body will meet at the Radisson Hotel Southeast (Interstate 225 and Parker Road) at 8:30 a.m. It is the second and final meeting of the year for the body that addresses constitutional and bylaw changes and recommendations for playoff formats.

It is the playoff formats that figure to draw the most attention in basketball and track.

The Class 2A and Class A state basketball tournaments could more closely resemble the formats of the larger classifications. In addition, the 4A tournament format could see a change.

The basketball committee is recommending expanding from eight to 16 districts in Class A, with the district winners advan- cing to a 16-team, seeded state bracket.

In 2A, the recommendation is for a 32-team state tournament, with each district advancing a predetermined number of teams. The 32-team bracket will have predetermined matchups until the final eight, which will then be seeded.

"We have looked at these changes, literally, for the last three years," CHSAA assistant commissioner Chuck Howell said. "It is a big change for the smaller schools and I think it's a little controversial. But some of the districts are tired of playing the same schools over and over and the new format creates a way for the best teams to advance.

"The 1As also want a format which will eliminate weekday playoff games," Howell added. "The 2As would be similar to the 3As with a predetermined bracket. If they do not work, we can still go with the old formats."

The basketball committee also has removed geographic consideration as a factor in seeding the 48-team 4A bracket. Recommendations also include moving the Sweet 16 and Great Eight games to four neutral sites.

The track committee report, which was tabled at the January meeting, has been resubmitted in a different format. The recommendation is for a three-day championship meet with all four classifications at one site.

"An additional day allows for the equitable administration of all classifications under the same conditions at the same site," assistant commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green said.

"It is the ultimate opportunity for the athletes, the track fans, the parents and the media to see and cover the state's best at one site. And, the three-day meet allows for distance athletes the opportunity to compete at the optimum level with cooler temperatures and recovery time."

Individual rankings will determine two full semifinal heats or flights in each event at state, for each classification. A professional company, at no cost to schools, will rank the top 25 athletes each week and post those rankings throughout the season.

After the last scheduled meet, the top 16 or 18 ranked athletes, depending on lane availability, will advance to the semifinals at the championship site.

This eliminates regional meets (which have been criticized for inequitable alignments), weekday travel, loss of school time, elimination of athletes who meet standards but are left behind because of limited coaches' entries, inequities with one- or two-day regional formats, weather conditions and site management.

This process puts the emphasis back on regular-season league meets and promotes more qualifying opportunities for athletes. The changes would begin next season.

Other items to be considered at the meeting:

* What would a BOC meeting be without some football discussion?

The Front Range League has proposed allowing schools that play Zero Week games to start practice five days earlier than those that do not play Zero Week. The Jefferson County League added a Zero Week proposal that allows those teams to retain one scrimmage to be used during the regular season. Currently, schools playing Zero Week are not allowed any scrimmages during the regular season.

Also, the Southwestern League is recommending the deletion of the higher-seed host criteria for the 4A and 5A playoffs that were passed in January, where the highest-seeded team hosts throughout the playoffs. It would return to the format previously used, where, if both teams had an equal number of home and away games, then the higher-seeded team would host.

* The Executive Committee is seeking to add Bruce Randolph High School in Denver and Legacy Academy in Elizabeth to a list of new schools for the 2008-09 school year. There also are amendments to move Middle Park from the Metropolitan League to the Frontier League for baseball and Centaurus from the Continental to the Jefferson County League in girls lacrosse.

* Additionally, there will be reports for consideration from ice hockey, skiing, spirit, swimming and wrestling. The baseball, lacrosse, soccer, softball and volleyball reports that passed in January can be reopened to consider amendments.

Interested parties can address the BOC before the meeting, at 8:30 a.m. Contact Bert Borgmann, 303-344-5050, by Tuesday at noon.

The complete meeting agenda and committee reports can be found at chsaa.org.

ETC.: The Highlands Ranch girls basketball team, which won its third consecutive Class 5A title this season, finished ranked No. 7 nationally by USA Today. . . . Northglenn's Tanner Waite had a game to remember last week. In a 30-8 baseball victory against Buena, Calif., Waite went 6-for-6 with 10 RBI. Waite's hits included a double, triple and home run.

Steinmark Award

* Nominations for the 37th boys and 35th girls Fred Steinmark High School Student/Athlete of the Year Award are due at the Rocky by May 1. Any coach, athletic director or school administrator can nominate an athlete from any school.

There are four requirements for an athlete to gain a nomination: the athlete must be a senior; have carried at least a 3.0 grade-point average through his/her high school career; have played a minimum of two sports each year; and must have been selected all-state in one sport and at least all-league in another.

There is no formal nomination form. Please submit a short letter or e-mail stating the athlete has met or will meet the requirements by the end of the spring season.

Send nominations to: Fred Steinmark Award, c/o Scott Stocker, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 500, Denver, CO 80202, or e-mail stockers@Rocky MountainNews.com.

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