The NCAA Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Rules Committee decided to delay for one year the implementation of a rules change that requires verifiable entry performances to be published through an online NCAA reporting system. As a result, the rule will now go into effect Dec. 1, 2017.
The committee, which met Tuesday via conference call, has received feedback from the membership about unintended consequences of implementing the rule during the 2016-17 indoor and outdoor track and field seasons. Some of the concerns include the unintended effects on incoming freshman athletes, injured athletes and distance runners who would have to be entered with a “no mark” performance until a verifiable current season performance is established. This could lead to inequitable competition due to student-athletes not being seeded properly.
The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved the committee’s request to delay the rule until Dec. 1, 2017, which will permit time for more feedback from the membership to modify the rule, if necessary.
This rule is intended to disallow speculative marks. It also aims to provide guidance to the membership regarding reporting and publishing entries for a competition. The Track and Field Rules Committee’s rationale for the rules change was to bring more fairness, structure and accountability to the process of conducting regular-season meets.