Board-Adopted Rule Changes: USCAA Nationals
October, 2001
a. Current: Entire section on trophies and awards.
Revised: This section is moved to the Nationals Implementation Guide and removed from the rules.
b. Current: "a competing corporation should be a member of at least one Regional Association."
Revised: Stricken from rules entirely.
c. Current: Changes for road races allowed before 8pm Friday/Saturday evening, with up to 3 changes per team allowed race morning.
Revised: Stricken from rules entirely.
d. Current: "Spike length must be ¼" or less."
Revised: Stricken from rules entirely.
e. Current: "Spouses may compete as non-scorers..." in road races.
Revised: Stricken from rules entirely.
f. Current: Field event participants may only warm up on the field during the 30-minute check-in time prior to event commencement.
Revised: Stricken from rules entirely.
g. Current: Field event rules state that once the event has started athletes must compete in their assigned age group "unless it's discovered that they are competing in an older age group than they actually are, which could alter any scores in that event."
Revised: Revise to read "Athletes must compete in their correctly assigned age group." Move to "Track/General" section, vs. field event-specific rules.
2) Alumni Participation Cap: PASSED
Current:
"Up to five ex-employees who have previously competed for a team in at least three USCAA National Track & Field Championships (or as many as the team has competed in, whichever is less), are eligible to compete for that team in a maximum of five National Track & Field Championships, or as many Nationals as the ex-employee participated in for that company or its original parent company (whichever is less). Ex-employees may not be employed by another competing USCAA team and may not run in either the Executive Relay or President’s Relay events. No more than two ex-employees can come from a single company. Ex-employees who participated in Nationals exclusively as summer interns or as contractors are not eligible to compete under the alumni provision."
Revised: "Up to five ex-employees who have previously competed for a team in at least three USCAA National Track & Field Championships (or as many as the team has competed in, whichever is less), are eligible to compete for that team, provided they are not employed by another competing USCAA team…."
3) Length of window for correcting event results/filing protests: PASSED
Current: "Protest forms will not be considered if received more than sixty minutes after the results posting is announced…. Team Captains are given sixty minutes to give any corrections to the head scorer… Once the sixty-minute Protest Period has expired, updated results will again be posted and those Team Captains having submitted corrections during the initial Protest Period will be given an additional thirty minutes, at this point, to ensure that their corrections have been included in the updated results posting."
Revised: "Protest forms will not be considered if received more than 30 minutes after the results posting is announced…. Team Captains have 30 minutes to file a protest or to give any corrections to the head scorer… Team captains have an additional 30 minutes to review revised results postings before the results become final."
4) Seeding for Prelims: PASSED
Current: "Heat and lane assignments for preliminary events will be balanced on the basis of team placing in that event at the previous year's National Meet. For teams not represented or not entered in the previous year, seeding will be based on receipt of entry fee. Teams that did not compete in an event in the previous year's Nationals will be seeded after all competing teams have been seeded. These remaining teams will be seeded based on how the team finished in the overall Team Standings from the previous year's Nationals. Brand new teams will be seeded after all other teams, based on receipt of entry fee."
Revised: "Heat and lane assignments for preliminary events will be based on random draw."
5) Implement weights: PASSED
The Rules Committee recommends the Board endorse revising the weight of the shot for women throwers, based on data gathered from USAT&F Masters competition. [To be determined]
6) Age groups for Division I Road Races: PASSED
The Rules Committee recommends that the USCAA eliminate the collapsing of age groups for Division I road races, as it did for Division II road races last year.
Revised: Stike from rules all discussion of collapsing age groups for road races.
7) Sprint Relay Modification: PASSED
Current:
Sprint Relay: Six runners, with at least two women AND one runner 40 years of age or older (in addition to the minimum two women)…
Revised:
Sprint Relay: Six runners, with at least two women, one 30 years of age or older, AND one runner 40 years of age or older (in addition to the minimum two women)…
8) President’s Relay Modification (Division II only): PASSED
Current:
Participants in the President's Relay must be at the officer level of their company or their direct reports, and must be primarily and significantly responsible for shaping and directing business objectives, direction, and strategy, with accountability for delivering results.
Three runners, each an officer or anyone who reports to the president, or their direct reports, and all 40 years of age or older (35 or older in Division II), running in order: 800m, 400m, 800m.
Revised:
Three runners, all from the same company, each at the level of manager of managers (or the equivalent) or above and all 30 years of age or older, running in order: 800m, 400m, 800m.
9) Team combining rule: PASSED
Current:
Companies with 10,000/3,000 or fewer employees may enter jointly with up to 4 other companies of 10,000/3,000 or fewer employees and compete in Division IIA/IIAA as long at the combined employee base is less than 10,000/3,000 employees. This means, for example, that five companies may compete together as one.
If more than 2 companies merge, they must compete as a team in all events and pay the team entry fee (not the individual per event fee).
Division II companies that merge may also compete in Division I. However, Division I eligibility rules will apply to the merged team (such as the President's Relay age requirement).
Revised:
Companies with 10,000 or fewer employees may enter jointly with up to 4 other companies and compete in Division IIA/AA, provided the combined employee base does not exceed 10,000 (combined teams of fewer than 3,000 employees will compete in Division IIAA). Combined teams are permitted to compete only in Division II; no team can combine to compete in Division I. Combined companies must compete as a team and pay the appropriate team entry fee.