Kansas Wrestling Forums General Discussion High School A KSHAA article- disqualified for applying tape

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool...-110553602.html

On April 10, Miranda Clark was getting ready to line up for the start of the 1,600 meter race at the Ellsworth Invitational. The Russell (Kansas) High student was ready to roll when she noticed that she had in earrings, a result of a recent ear piercing. Knowing that wearing jewelry in a race is forbidden in sporting events by the Kansas High School Activities Association, Clark knew she couldn't run with her earrings showing, so she did what most athletes do to make jewelry less conspicuous: She covered them up with tape.

As it turns out, that decision was the worst she could have made. As soon as Clark finished the event, a track official, Jim Cross, approached her and asked what was under her tape. When she admitted that the tape was covering an earring, Cross promptly judged that she was exhibiting "unsportsmanlike conduct," a ruling that disqualified the Russell (Kansas) High runner from the entire meet; Clark was scheduled to run the 3,200 meters later in the afternoon.

Perhaps most infuriating for Cross and her teammates was this bizarre technicality: If Clark had left her earrings in but not covered them up with tape she would have only received a warning and not been disqualified. As such, by trying to do the right thing, the Russell running was punished more harshly than if she had openly disobeyed state regulations.

"The state should be encouraging runners, not making it difficult to participate," Clark, who finished the 1,600 meters in 10th place, told Prep Rally. "If KSHAA is insisting on being so picky with what is allowed to be worn at sporting events, they need to be consistent. I think it was completely unfair for me to be disqualified and rude to call me unsportsmanlike. I was definitely not trying to hide my jewelry. I was just trying to follow regulations the best I could."

Whether one agrees with the punishment that befell Clark or not, it's hard to argue with the line of logic she espouses: She didn't remove a piece of jewelry because she was protecting a recent piercing, so she tried to cover it up to keep from violating well-established state regulations. Yet instead of applauding her ingenuity, Clark was given a more harsh punishment for violating a virtually unknown technicality.

That's precisely the case that a member of the extended Clark family tried to make in an email to KHSAA assistant executive director Mark Lentz that was obtained by Prep Rally. In his response to an open query about Clark's dismissal from the meet, Lentz said that the teen should only have been disqualified if she had been warned about wearing the earrings earlier in the event. Lentz stressed the importance of "preventive refereeing"; warning athletes like Clark that they are at risk of a violation before they actually start an event.

Yet Lentz also failed to address whether the official's decision to ban Clark was right or wrong, and agreed that it should have been done on the basis of "unsportsmanlike conduct" because it was related to jewelry … even though Clark went out of her way to ensure her jewelry was not showing.


For his part, Clark's father, Marty Clark, who was at the meet, said that he was most frustrated with a lack of consistency on what parts of contemporary uniforms the KHSAA deems to be inappropriate and unsportsmanlike.

"I have been attending track meets for years and there is not a meet that I attend that a person does not make a comment about the inappropriate uniforms that are allowed, but I have yet to hear a comment about tape on an ear or an athlete having an earring," Marty Clark told Prep Rally. "Miranda was wrong for having the jewelry in her ear and she knows that, but I feel that to be disqualified from competition because they are putting tape on it is a little extreme. This is just high school sports, we should be promoting and encouraging our young people to compete and be active, not discouraging."

Sometimes officials will do anything for a little attention.

Her dad is the district judge of Russell County....

The problem with this world is we make laws and rules to "cover our a$$" for that once in a million times that a problem may come up........

Tell me how wearing earrings are a danger in track anyway....

Too much government, not nearly enough common sense..........

Tell me how wearing earrings are a danger in track anyway....
I bet this kid was wearing an earring
http://youtu.be/aGCiw9Z89Ec

Ok, I know I am going to regret responding to this and not demanding the kshsaa be burnt down and its employees hung and quartered, but here goes:

#1. Uniforms, jewelry, etc. are governed by the National Federation. They are not KSHSAA rules, but are rules the KSHSAA agrees to abide by to have membership in the National Federation.

#2. The person who disqualified the girl is not a KSHSAA employee, but a local guy who was (over)zealous in his interpretation and enforcement of the rule.

Was the meet official wrong in either his interpretation or enforcement of the rule? No. Could he have chosen to be less of a j**k and simply disqualified her from that race and told her to take out the earrings before she ran again? Absolutely.

This is the KSHSAA's fault because. . .

In other words Greg common sense is a rare commodity today and the old saying about power - 'power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely' is correct. KSHSAA has absolute power - and the results of such appear to be creeping down to the line staff (the official may not be a KSHSAA employee - but he is indirectly). If KSHSAA was encouraging it staff to be understanding, this would not happen. Absolute power much never be given to any organization - KSHSAA included.

Nah, you are reading way too much into this. Common sense in THAT situation was missing. The meet official had no directive from the KSHSAA and was not even an "indirect employee" of the KSHSAA. . . an agent perhaps. . .but not an employee. He was not going to lose any position or standing with the KSHSAA if he had not enforced the rule as he did.

Most on here would he surprised at how loose is the nexus between the KSHSAA and locally sponsored activities. The relationship is certainly not as close as many seem to think it is.

This official's lack of common sense was not the fault of the KSHSAA; he chose to follow the letter of the NFS rule, rather than uphold its spirit. It was just some local guy at a local track meet who knew something and decided to let everyone know he knew it. . .sad. . .but nothing more.

The official is also from Russell, as was the competitor... Not that it makes much difference

At least that eliminates any suspicion that it was done to gain a competitive advantage. Guess the guy who made the call believes in following the rules to a "T."