Ninth Qualifier at State Track Meet Marked a Success
By Sheila Henderson, Assistant Athletic Director | Tuesday, May 31, 2011 2:36 PM
Michael Patterson from Palo Duro HS in Amarillo jumps at the 2011 State Track and Field Meet. Patterson was a ninth qualifier this year and earned a bronze medal in the long jump.
Photo by Jeanne Acton
In the 100-year history of the State Track and Field Meet, UIL has allowed no more than eight qualifiers from each conference to participate in each event. Traditionally, the State Meet advanced the top two finishers from each of the regional qualifying meets.
Beginning with the 2011 State Track and Field Meet, the UIL staff added a ninth qualifier — a rule change approved by the Legislative Council at the 2009 October meeting.
The ninth qualifier, also known as the “wildcard,” is defined as the individual and/or relay team with the best overall time, mark or height from all regional meets per classification that did not finish first or second.
The implementation process went off without a hitch this year. All qualifiers, including the ninth, were posted on the UIL website within 72 hours of receiving all regional meet results. This posting gave everyone across the state final information regarding who qualified to the State Track and Field Meet in all events.
Sam Tipton, Executive Director of the Texas Girls' Coaches Association agreed that the ninth qualifier was a success.
“I heard nothing but positive remarks about the addition of the ninth qualifier in each event," he said.
Among the 170 athletes who earned wildcard spots for the State Meet were two athletes from Mansfield Timberview HS — senior Keondra Mallard, who qualified for the girls’ 100-meter dash, and senior Terence Boyd, who qualified in the boys’ triple jump. They were both thrilled to get another opportunity to compete.
"[The rule change] opened up doors for people who ran a good race but just happened to be in a region that's very hot," Timberview HS boys’ coach Rayford Ross said.
Timberview HS girls’ coach Cinda Baer compared the new rule to the Wheel of Fortune.
“They get a wild card and get another letter or get to the bonus round,” she said. “You get another opportunity to score some points, so that's always a good thing."
At the regional level, the competition was more competitive since the athletes and coaches knew they still had a “wildcard” chance at making it to the state meet.
“It seems to me that a new mindset has occurred for athletes and coaches at the regional meets,” ,” Track and Field State Meet Co-Director Traci Neely said. “The ninth qualifier brought about some fierce regional competitions from around all of the regions this year.”
The overall results support the fact that adding the ninth qualifier was a good move.
In conferences 1A, 2A and 4A there were four gold medalists who were ninth qualifiers:
- AJ Kassen, Valley View (1A) 110H
- Wren Bonner, Whitney (2A) Long Jump
- Tatum Boys (2A) 4x400 Relay
- Marques Hicks, Hallsville (4A) Pole Vault
In all conferences, there were 23 silver and bronze:
- Terrance Bonds, West Texas, Stinett (1A) Long Jump-3rd
- Tywan Scott, ARPH (2A) 110H-3rd
- Ryan Todd, Holiday (2A) Shot-3rd
- Kristen Acker, Poth (2A) Discus-2nd
- Jessica Green, Liberty Hill (3A) High Jump-3rd
- Shauni Prihoda, Needville (3A) Pole Vault-2nd
- Marissa Westbrook, Shallowater (3A) Shot-3rd
- Leraven Clark, Rocdale (3A) Shot-3rd
- Deja Snell, Frisco Lone Star (3A) Triple Jump-3rd
- Dallas Madison Boys (3A) 4x400 Relay-2nd
- John Warren, Killeen (4A) Triple Jump-2nd
- Alexus Daniels, Corsicana (4A) Triple Jump-3rd
- Michael Patterson, Amarillo Palo Duro(4A)Long Jump-3rd
- Alicia Janke, Rockwall (4A) Pole Vault-3rd
- Chasity Steward, Whitehouse (4A) 300H-3rd
- Kary Hyde, Forney (4A) 100H-3rd
- Pearland Dawson Girls (4A) 4x100 Relay-3rd
- Rachel Jones, Lyille Hebron (5A) 1600 Meters-2nd
- Regan Gilbert, Harker Heights (5A) Pole Vault-2nd
- Dallas Samuell Girls (5A) 4x100 Relay-3rd
- Jillian Anderson, Humble Atascocita (5A) 800 Meters-3rd
- Ahmend Ali, Alief Hastings (5A) 200 Meters-3rd
- Deja McKnight, Odessa (5A) Shot-3rd
- Colin Burton, Woodlands (5A) Discus – 3rd
Of the total number of ninth qualifiers added to the meet, 16 percent won medals first through third places, and 59 percent of the ninth qualifiers placed first through sixth and scored points for their team.
“As the final event concluded on Saturday evening and the last light in the stadium was turned off, we felt pretty good about the success of adding a ninth qualifier to the state meet,” Track and Field State Meet Co-Director Sheila Henderson said. “You can never go wrong when you give one more athlete the chance to achieve the dream of a lifetime.”