Association of Track Officials of Michigan ATOM NewsletterNewsletter+17-1.pdf · [email protected] 5. Capital Dennis Hodges 11768 Gold Fields Drive Grand Ledge, MI 48837 517-627-7473

VOLUME XXX: NO .1

MARCH 1 , 2017

Presidents Report 1

Editor’s Notes 2

‘17 T&F Rule Changes 4

Sportsmanship! 5

Necrology 3

Team USA Masters 13

MHSAA CC Results 7

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Association of Track Officials of Michigan

ATOM Newsletter

Dear ATOM Membership,

Welcome to the 30th year of the Association of Track Officials. As the only recognized State wide Officials Association, ATOM has grown into one of the most respected Officials Association in the Midwest. It is the nature of ATOM to continue to improve it's stature and the ATOM Executive Committee is working hard to maintain its position as a leader in development and education of officials for one of the greatest sport offered to the student/athletes of Michi-gan.

One of the projects we are looking at is the establishment of an endowment for a deserving program. The objective of this project is to share and show how ATOM is constantly supporting the efforts of those who are working "for the kids". The plan is to ask the mem-bership to consider donating the pay you would receive from work-ing one meet during the Spring season. The mechanics for the pro-gram are being ironed out and will be relayed to the membership later in the year.

Another project would be the establishment of a ATOM Hall of Fame, honoring a deserving official as "Official of the Year". An ideal place for the home of such a display would be at the MHSAA offices, among other Halls of various organizations (ex. MiTCA, BCAM, Athletic Directors Assoc etc). The mechanics for this project will be depending on the policies of the MHSAA.

As we prep for the upcoming Track Season, a couple of remind-ers for you all. First, check your equipment, i.e. gun, megaphone, uniform etc. Organize your schedule and avoid the dreaded double booking events on the same day. Make sure your rain gear is in the bag as well as the sun screen and any other piece of first aid equipment you deem important. Review the Rule and Case Books. Be comfortable with the uniform rules. Know the particulars of the points of emphasis from the Federation. If you need a source to go over these, refer to the ATOM website, ATOM Officials.com.

Continued on Page 3

Zones 2 & 5 are in need of

zone reps too!

Contact Lew for more info.

The MHSAA is again offering to New Officials, 1st Year Registration for FREE!

This can be our best recruiting tool to get new T&F Officials as well as ATOM Members.

So Spread the word!

1. South Shore Al Wood 55475 60th Ave. Lawrence, MI 49064 269-901-4112 H

[email protected] 2. Border Shores

Lynn Ketelhut 8122 Cortland Allan Park, MI 48101 313-673-9640 H

[email protected] 3. Metro

Geri Jackson 18931 Marlowe Detroit, MI 48235 313-610-6338

[email protected] 3. Metro

Darlene Barber 20279 Strasburg Detroit, MI 48505 313-521-6123 H

[email protected] 4. Mid Thumb

Dan Johnson 242 Saginaw St. Vassar, MI 48768 989-823-2525 H

[email protected]

5. Capital Dennis Hodges 11768 Gold Fields Drive Grand Ledge, MI 48837 517-627-7473 H

[email protected] 6. Windmill

Brian Macomber 56 Nine Mile Road Comstock Park, MI 49321 616-784-0348 H

[email protected] 7. Woodland (west)

Lyle Berry 4896 Castle Hill Ct. Rockford, Mi 49341 616-863-1177 H

[email protected] 7. Woodland (east)

Gordie Richardson 5728 Bent Tree Drive Gaylord, MI 49735 989-939-8022 H

[email protected] 8. Porcupine

John Meyer 1010 East E Street Iron Mountain, MI 49801 989-774-2657 H

[email protected]

President Lew Clingman 18 Worcester Dr. NW Grand Rapids, mi 49503 616-459-3890

[email protected] 1st Vice President

Michael VanDyke 2142 Tremont Blvd. NW Grand Rapids, MI 49504 616-901-2034 C

[email protected]

2nd Vice President

Gordie Richardson 5728 Bent Tree Drive Gaylord, MI 49735 989-939-8022 H

[email protected]

Treasure George Babcock 460 North Main St. Allegan, MI 49010 269-673-3124 H

[email protected] Secretary

Jill Sandro 950 Falkirk Road Alma, MI 48801 989-463-4122 H

[email protected] Newsletter Editor

John Greathouse 306 State Street Eaton Rapids, MI 48827-1547 517-819-7403 C

[email protected]

V O L U M E X X X : N O . 1 P A G E 2

2016

Executive Committee

Regional—ATOM Zone Representatives

Ramblings from the desk of John Greathouse

As the sNOw starts to melt and weather begins to warm up before you know it will that time of the year… Outdoor Track! Unless you are in the UP than maybe a couple of weeks more.

Hopefully most of you have your meet schedules filled out, you have found enough blanks and you are making sure everything is ready to go, so let the fun be-gin.

Membership to ATOM stands at 205 for 2017. This is down a little from 2016 where we had 217 signed up but George says that a few will still be signing up over the next couple of months as we get into the season. So when you are working some of the large meets on your schedule find out if the other Officials are members, if not and ask them to join ATOM.

The ATOM Newsletter is going to be sent out by email for everyone who has re-quested it as well as to our 2016 members who have not yet renewed. All other cur-rent 2017 members will received it by First Class Mail.

Officials wishing to work at the State Fi-nals in Greater Grand Rapids need to con-tact Lew Clingman. It takes 40 to 50 Offi-cials per site, of which there are 4 or 200 Officials of each and every position was filled to properly run a 1st Class meet so there is always room for more Officials if you are interested in joining up to be part of a crew.

See you at the track!

John Greathouse Editor

A T O M N E W S L E T TE R P A G E 3

Necrology

We lost two ATOM Members in late 2016 and early 2017

Charles Lewis Harold McGuire

Our condolences go out their families.

If you know of an ATOM member, current or past, that is now deceased,

please contact Dan Johnson and he will add that person to the ATOM necrology

(obituary) list.

His contact information is:

E-mail: [email protected]

Association of Track Officials of Michigan

ATOM Newsletter

Continued from Page 1

You should review the "Officials Pal" which can be found on the MHSAA website in the Boys or Girls Track section. This document is one of the best reference pieces you, as an official, can find. I would also like to remind all that the Final Sites will again be in Grand Rapids this spring, Div 1 at East Kentwood High, Div 2 at Zeeland Public Schools, Div 3 at Comstock Park High School and Div 4 at Houseman Field. If you would like to work at

one of the Final Meets as a Field Event Judge or as a Clerk or Umpire, you can con-tact me at [email protected] .

As they say, enough is enough, so I will sign off now. Have a great Spring and feel free to contact your Regional Rep or myself if you have any questions or coments.

Lew Clingman

ATOM President

Atom Newsletter is published four times per year, March 15, June 15, October 1 and December 1.

Atom Newsletter welcomes contributions of articles,

information or photos which focus on officiating Track & Field and Cross Country in Michigan.

Our next newsletter will BE MAILED December 1, 2016. Deadline to submit information or articles is November 15.

Send information to:

John Greathouse, Editor - [email protected]

A starter who has given adequate instruc-tions to the athletes, gained their trust, and maintained a calm atmosphere at the starting line normally will have few problems with false starts, especially where the “no false start” rule is in effect. Nevertheless, every time a race is started the starter and recall starters must be alert and fully prepared to immediately respond to a false start.

The IAAF, USATF and NCAA rule books now all state that, after assuming a full and final set position, an athlete is only allowed to commence his starting motion after the report of the gun or approved starting apparatus. (IAAF and USATF rules now more precisely state that competitors may not commence the start until after receiving the report of the pistol/starting device.) Continued on Page 6

V O L U M E X X X : N O . 1 P A G E 4

Interview with Scot Severn

Team USA Paralympic Medalist

How long have you been competing in Track and Field? 14 years You have medaled in London, Rio and the World Championships in Lyon and Doha, what do you think is the key to your suc-cess?

Hard work in my preparation, especially in the weight room. I credit Bill Godina for this. I didn’t have international success until I started following Bill’s program. Rest and re-covery has also become more important as I get older. Staying calm, competing with con-fidence and using Diana McNab’s breathing technique has also been very important to pacing my throws and slowing my heart rate between throws. Simply put, staying strong physically as well as mentally.

How has your event changed over time?

There have been too many rules changes to remember. Going from competing in 3 events to just competing in 1 event is still hard to get used to. The rule changes have not affected myself as much as some of my competitors but there have still been a lot of small changes that I’ve had to adapt to.

Changes to the holding bar and lengthening of the seat to meet the rules are the biggest changes that set me back a little in my tech-nique training.

You have a very active family life; how do you find time to train?

Not having to have a day job is the main reason I can devote the time that I do toward training. My boys going to the gym with me has also allowed me to spend time with them while we all train.

How many days a week do you train?

3-4 days in the off season, 6 days during the competition season.

Describe a typical training day?

Throwing mid to late morning, lifting for 1-2 hours in the afternoon before dinner, then swimming at night.

What has been the most exciting moment in your career?

Winning the Bronze in London by 3cm.

Least Satisfying?

Losing the gold in Rio by 3cm.

What? Midwest Meet of Champions When? June 9, 2018 Where? Michigan State University Who? Top three seniors from Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana competing in a triangular meet with team scores. How? With the help of ATOM officials from across the state

Longtime ATOM official, Doug Kelly will be lining up offi-cials in con-junction with Meet Man-ager and

Team Michigan Finan-cial Officer, Kim Spals-bury. If you would like to work the meet (all positions are volunteer), contact Doug at 734-646-3151 or Kim at 517-927-2373. We will be hosting from 2018-2021 at MSU. When we held the meet in Jackson from 2006-09, the meet was a huge success, due in no small part to the expertise of the many ATOM officials who volunteered. Please plan to join us the second Saturday in June 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021!

Midwest Meet of Champions

Team Michigan

P A G E 5 A T O M N E W S L E T TE R

There will be a Level I Clinic for anyone that is interested in becoming a New USATF Offi-cial.

It will be held at the University of Michigan on March 11.

On March 18th or 25th, there is a Level II for current USATF Officials. The exact classes are TBA but should be posted on the USATF

Michigan website soon as well as the location on campus of the class.

I have noticed over the past 10 years, the rule books (NHSF, USATF, NCAA & IAAF) are getting closer to each other in language, learn them now and gain more experance as an official by joining USATF.

P A G E 6 V O L U M E X X X : N O . 1

Continued From Page 3 — False Starts

If the starting motion is commenced prior to (or less than 0.10 second after) the sound of the gun, it is considered a false start. The high school rule book does not define a false start this clearly, but the intent is the same. These rule clarifications finally settled a dif-ference of opinion that had existed for many years. The old rule wording appeared to al-low an athlete to internally commence the starting motion before the sound of the gun (i.e., try to outguess the starter and get a “flyer”) as long as there was no detectable motion before the sound of the gun; so if the athlete moved exactly with the gun it was felt to be a fair start. This was the opinion of a number of athletes, coaches and even some starters. Now, with the more precise rule wording, the intent is clear: the runner is not allowed to commence starting until after re-ceiving the starting signal (i.e., the runner must react to the gun, not anticipate it).

A runner who begins movement out of the starting blocks before the sound of the gun normally will move the back foot and leg first, along with the opposite hand and arm. Unless there are enough recall starters to as-sign at least one to watching for slipped blocks, the starter and recall starters will have to key on the arm and hand movement, since it will be more difficult for them to see movement from the legs. Upon seeing any movement out of the blocks on the part of a runner before (or with) the sound of the gun, the starter or the recall starters should give the “Stand up” command if the gun has not yet fired, or fire a recall shot if the starter’s gun has fired. Be aware, too, of situations like “flinches” or “bucks,” or other extraneous factors (see the previous section on reasons to halt the starting process, and the new IAAF/USATF interpretation of what consti-tutes “commencing a start” noted below). The starter or recall starters stationed more to the side of the runners are in a better posi-tion to see hand movement and rolling starts,

although it is a little more difficult to see the runner who is slow coming to the set position. On the other hand, the starter or recall starter in a position further in front of the line is in a better position to see the runner who is slow coming to the set position, but it is a little more difficult to see the runner moving for-ward at the gun. With the combination of proper starter and recall starter positions, there usually is little opportunity for an athlete to succeed in making an unfair start.

It should be pointed out here that the recall starter should never have the gun cocked at the start of a race, and should hold the trigger finger outside of the trigger housing. If the trigger finger is on the trigger, there is a natu-ral tendency for the recall starter to squeeze the trigger at the sound of the starter’s gun, or even before the starter’s gun fires, result-ing in an unnecessary recall. This can be highly embarrassing and, like forgetting to load the gun, is hopefully something that hap-pens only once in a career. With a little prac-tice, one can quickly become accustomed to getting the finger on the trigger and firing the recall shot within the first 2-3 strides of the race.

Upon calling the runners up or firing a recall gun, the starter should confer briefly with the recall starters to get their observations on what happened and who, if anyone, should be charged. Even when it is very obvious who or what caused the recall, there should at least be brief visual communication among the starter and recall starters to ensure agreement. If a recall starter has seen or heard something that the starter apparently has missed, this should be noted immedi-ately, since it could have an impact on the starter’s decision. And the final decision is always the starter’s alone. Continued on Page 8

A T O M N E W S L E T TE R P A G E 7

http://www.gundogsupply.com/kitrblpi.html

A double action, 5 shot, blank .209 primer pistol with the strength to stand up to frequent use

A double action, 5 shot, blank .209 primer pistol with the strength to stand up to frequent use and for those who prefer a larger, more hand-filling pistol. This de-luxe blank pistol has the heft and balance of many conventional pistols. A solid barrel with a red plug identifies that the barrel is safe and is not a real gun. The cylinder swings out for loading of five 209 shotgun primers. This model comes packed in a hard shell, foam-lined storage and carrying case. Specifications: Barrel: 2" Overall Length: 7.25" Height: 4.8" Weight: 1.5 lbs. Capacity: 5 Finish: Black Gloss

This is the gun that Lynn discussed at the clinic and several members had the chance to test fire in the

parking lot.

P A G E 8 V O L U M E X X X : N O . 1

This years clinic was a success due to the numerous officials who stepped up to pass their knowledge and experience along to the clinic attendees. This type of learning in invaluable to everyone to learn from your peers.

ATOM presented several awards this year to very deserving members and people who help make our job as an offi-cials much easier.

There were several door prizes that you could win like a brand new electronic starters pistol, a 22 cal. Starters pistol, various item that you can would use at a track meet and for a few lucky winners... A box of doughnuts from Cops-n-Doughnuts!

A T O M N E W S L E T TE R P A G E 9

Make plans for the 2018 Clinic and if you have never ever made a presentation at a clinic to pass along your experience in track & field, conceder doing it for the 2018 clinic!

P A G E 1 0 A T O M N E W S L E T TE R V O L U M E X X X : N O . 1

Continued From Page 3 — False Starts

In April 2012 the IAAF issued new guide-lines for starters regarding what constitutes a false start (the most recent 2015 edition of “IAAF Starting Guidelines” can be found at: http://www.iaaf.org/about-iaaf/documents/technical#manuals-guidelines). The relevant text, most of which also is included now in Note (i) in Rule 162.6 of the IAAF Rule Book, reads:

“…not all movements in the “set” position are to be regarded as “commencing the start” and thereby potentially leading to a false start. Motion by an athlete that does not in-clude or result in the athlete’s foot / feet leav-ing contact with the foot plate / plates of the starting block, or the athlete’s hand / hands losing contact with the ground, shall not be considered the commencement of the start. Such instances should be dealt with either by standing the field up or they may constitute a violation of Rule 162.5(b) or (c) [USATF Rule 162.17(b) or (c)] invoking the disciplinary pro-

visions.”

This interpretation is now incorporated in the USATF rule book (Rule 162.13) in the 2017 major revision of Rule 162 discussed below.

This wording essentially describes a “buck” or “flinch”, and this is not to be called a false start unless one or both hands leave the ground and/or one or both feet leave the ped-als of the blocks. As noted earlier, a flinch or buck is one of the most difficult situations fac-ing a starter, and often has been subject to varying calls by starters. The IAAF (and USATF) has now attempted to provide some objective guidance in how to handle these situations, to promote more consistency in the way they are called. It is not a perfect solution, but providing some guidelines and encouraging consistency in interpreting these situations is a positive move. The key here is going to be the starter being more prepared and more consistent in bringing the athletes up in these situations

In mid-February, there is a group of official, chaches that have a get together for dinner and talk about everything from high school and college sports, politics, books that they have read, stories from “the old day,’ current events and some times track and field.

Lynn Ketelhut had asked Tom’s wife to join him for this dinner, mind you she does not go to this and and Tom was at a loss why his wife was invited..

Lynn was joined by fellow ATOM members Bob Fulcher, Lou Miramonti and Bob Stark to present to Tom a State of Michigan Special Tribute signed by Governor Rick Snyder for Tom’s efforts

and dedication to the Track & Field / Cross Country communities of our State. Lynn also pre-sented to Tom the U.S. Flag and State of Michigan flags that were flown over the Michigan State Capi-tol.

Tom would like to thank the ATOM membership for honoring him for his years of service .