Regionals Blows

[vaulter580]

i have been against this whole regional thing since the start.......i think it takes away the prestege of the ncaa championships, the honor of being one of the top 16-20 athletes in the country.

i think that in an event like the vault where about 100 factors all come into play, there should be more to the qualifing.
in my opinion i think the best way to do away with bogus marks is to have a set number of marks per vaulter, such as a provisional mark of about 5.30 or so, and then any vaulter in contention must turn in like 5 marks with at least one mark over the provisional and at the end figure up the averages and then pick your field with the vaulters who have the highest averages

my point being that you may have a guy that jumps 5.30 every time he grabs a pole but then he gets bumped out by a guy who jumped 5.00 all year but got a tail wind one day and jumped 5.31
this system would make for better competition

what do you guys think about this idea????

[Decamouse]

One problem I see with that is the guy that is either coming off and injury or lives in a bad weather area - may only get a few decent shoots - say two meets rain - one 35 deg then goes 5.15 and 5.35 or injury return and the same 5.00 and then 5.32 - most systems have some parts that people do not like

[vaulter580]

you say weather, the way the regional meets are set up you pretty much only have that weekend to qualify
what if one of the regional meets has bad weather and cannot hold the pole vault?? are the good vaulters in that region just screwed??

[Cpvault]

Vaulter580 you're on the right track. Although, that weather issue does come into play. As of right now, the best way is the old way. Have an automatic mark, and a provisional mark. This system includes the best vaulters in the nation year after year. Is it fullproof? Of course not. But, it is better than the alternative.

[jomrus]

Did you guys even read all the posts or are you going to say what people already said, and act like it was new? So what if there is bad weather. Everyone at that meet will have the same situation to jump in, so the top five at that meet will go to nationals. I think it's BS to say that the prestige of the meet will go down. That shows how much confidence you have in the best jumpers to jump good at regionals. What, our good jumpers in the nation can't jump against worse competition when the weather flares up. Get a grip. The pros have to go through preliminary comp, so why shouldn't we start acting like professionals. It just doesn't make any sense that you would call a meet prestigious with a couple guys that had one good mark all season. I say you should earn your spot. And yes, I don't believe that I should have gone to indoor nc's because I only jumped 17'6'' right at the very end. The regional system gets the best competitors at the national meet, period.

[zack]

How are they going to deal with the size of the fields? Today I counted 26 guys and 38 girls just for the West region!

[Cpvault]

Jomrus,
You are so far off base. Let's say you had 5 consistent 18 foot jumpers at regionals, and 5 consistent 17 foot jumpers at regionals. The weather is bad and all 5 18 footers NH. But, 3 of the 5 17 foot jumpers make a height and advance (This type of situation is possible; look at NCAA's in 1999; there were 9 NH's in our field of 18. NH's with the likes of Russ Buller). So, you can honestly say given our hypothetical situation that the NCAA field would not be diluted? The numbers don't lie; 5 of the best jumpers in a given region will not be there. As for you jumping 17'6" to make indoor nationals, be proud. In effect, you are calling yourself a fluke jumper. I'm sure you don't believe that's the case. Do you?
--CPvault

[BrandoAZ]

I know Im a lame a** high school vaulter but listen....

In Georgia most of the state doesnt vault. But one county has lots of money and can afford good coaches and equipment. There are many people who get 14+ there but they are almost all in the same region. Theirfor all but 2 get cancled out in one and only one chance. But somebody else in a different region jumps 7 or 8 feet and wins. Its similar for you guys. It sucks to have it ride on just one jump and also that it limits good vaulters from getting their shot. The 3 best vaulters could be competing in the same region but only 2 get to be national vaulters. Wouldnt it suck if you had the 3rd highest hight but you got cancled out due to a fluke (I dont know how many they take.. is it top 3 in college? but you get the idea)

Ive heard of this but Im not sure of exact details and when I jump in college next year Ill be against it too. But at least next year I wont be good enough to have it matter

[vaultguru6]

I am a true believer that the best vaulter is the vaulter that jumped best ON THE DAY. Who cares what a vaulters former marks are, if they're good enough to get you to regionals thats all that matters. Once at regionals, everyone is equal. It doesn't matter if you've jumped 4.90 or 5.80, who ever jumps the best ON THE DAY is the better vaulter and therefore deserving of going to nationals. Even if one of the best vaulters does no height, you could just easily say they would have done that at nationals too, and if they NH at nationals what does it matter that they're even there? Track is a sport in which you're only as good as you are today, regardless of prior marks.

[lope14feet]

i definitly agree with vaultguru vaulting is definitly about consistency and if you dont jump as high at any given comp than you werent the best...period

[rainbowgirl28]

How are they going to deal with the size of the fields? Today I counted 26 guys and 38 girls just for the West region!

That's going to be a fun warm-up I would imagine the qualifier will end up being higher for the girls next year. Looks like over 100 will qualify nationwide this year.

Hopefully they will start high and go up at least 20cm increments!

[BrandoAZ]

I am a true believer that the best vaulter is the vaulter that jumped best ON THE DAY. Who cares what a vaulters former marks are, if they're good enough to get you to regionals thats all that matters. Once at regionals, everyone is equal. It doesn't matter if you've jumped 4.90 or 5.80, who ever jumps the best ON THE DAY is the better vaulter and therefore deserving of going to nationals. Even if one of the best vaulters does no height, you could just easily say they would have done that at nationals too, and if they NH at nationals what does it matter that they're even there? Track is a sport in which you're only as good as you are today, regardless of prior marks.

Ok I give in.... I won my county for that reason and the guy wouldnt shut up about the fact that he came in too early supposedly. He kept jumping and missing so I was like... how did you expect to win taking 100 tries to make something higher then I got.

I conceed... you win Im on your side!