The return of the CIF-Southern Section Cross Country Championships to Mt. SAC will result in the reduction to 16 teams qualifying from prelims to finals because of a narrower start area at the Walnut course. (Photos by Lizette Adams, Jeffrey Parenti and Raymond Tran)
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With less
than two months until we embark on the upcoming 2020-2021 cross country season,
the continued uncertainties we are all experiencing continue to swirl. With every school district and county in the
state operating under a different set of guidelines, programs up and down the
state are in situations never before dreamt of.
With that,
the Southern Section Cross Country Coaches Advisory Committee conducted their
annual pre-
season meeting in mid-October. The committee, headed by CIF-SS Assistant Commissioner, Rainer Wulf, came together over an informal Zoom call to discuss the expectations
of the upcoming season.
The agenda item that predictably guided much of the conversation was the move back to the Mt. San Antonio College course for the CIF-SS postseason. As most expected, the move to the Riverside Championship course over the past four seasons was temporary, while the Mt. SAC athletic facility experienced a MAJOR facelift and upgrade.
The most notable change to the upcoming CIF-SS postseason, aside from the change in dates where the postseason will be held in March of 2021, will be the move back to 16 schools qualifying for the Divisional Finals.
The all-cement
starting line on the Mt. SAC 'airstrip' measures 40 feet wide whereas the line
at the 
Riverside course measured out over 132 feet, according to Riverside Course Commissioners Will Jacobsmeyer and Keith Chann. Jacobsmeyer orchestrated the process that provided an alternative site to successfully conduct the CIF-SS the past several years. In being able to accommodate 24 schools qualifying for the Divisional Finals, Jacobsmeyer always welcomed the opportunity for the Southern Section Championships to mirror
the number of participants that is also seen at the California State Meet.
The compacted starting line at Mt. SAC also forces squads to be put in single file formation with each squad being allocated a two-foot box.
It will also be tougher to qualify as an 'at large' squad to the postseason. The past several years, if a team was ranked in the top 16 in two of the final four polls for its division, that team was granted an at-large invite to the postseason. But, as was the case before the temporary move, that determination will revert back to being ranked in the top 13 in two of those final four polls.
The limited
fields per race will be as they were before 2016. Four heats will be utilized when a division
experiences 50 or more entries, determining the 16 qualifying squads. When three heats are conducted, it will be
the top five schools, along with the fastest sixth-place squad (based on team
time) moving on from those three heats. Over
the past several seasons, the CIF-SS prelims conducted 2-3 heats to determine
the 24 finalists.
As was the move up to 24 qualifying squads several years ago, this move too is also met with differing opinions. While coaches may be disappointed with the decision to go back to 16, it comes as no surprise once it was made public that the starting line at Mt. SAC would not be expanded during the recently completed construction process. The majority of coaches we have spoken to also indicated that they understood that the expanded field at the CIF-SS Finals in Riverside was temporary as most believed that the move back to Mt. SAC was inevitable.
Terry Tierney, the longtime successful head coach at Rancho Cucamonga, expressed how he's disappointed moving back to only 16 qualifying squads.
"Good teams get left at prelims with only 16. In 2015, we tied for the last spot to the finals (winning on a tie-breaker), only to turn around to qualify for the State Meet with a seventh-place finish the following week."
Tierney referenced how, in Division 1 especially,
that the consistent depth at that level will always leave out quality squads
with only 16 advancing.
While most coaches celebrated the fact of continued development and expanded goal setting with 24 teams advancing, others argued that there are only two goals of the SS-CIF Championship Finals:
- Crown divisional champions
- Select the State Meet qualifying squads
Many feel that the SS-CIF
Finals is a true championship meet and 'not meant for teams on the fringe' as
one coach described. One committee member mentioned that the process had become much more liberal over 
the years and allowing too many the
opportunity to participate in the section finals.
Either way, the CIF-SS Finals for the upcoming season returns to its longtime home, Mt. San Antonio College! Mt. SAC hosted every CIF-SS Finals from 1981-2015 while also hosting the event from 1972-1978. Our own personal, in-house poll conducted in 2019 indicated that more than 60 percent of the coaches wanted to return, referencing history and tradition as their primary reasoning. A little less than 20 percent wanted a scheduled combination of some sort between the two championship course while the remaining 20 percent preferred to stay at the Riverside Championship course.
Other
developments highlighted at the Advisory Committee Meeting
- The Division 5 girls lost a qualifying spot to the State Meet and will only qualify six this season. All other divisions will advance seven teams.
- A number of schools will switch divisions for 2020-21, including traditional boys powerhouse, Loyola (to Division 1), Royal (to D-2), and West Torrance, Simi Valley and Redlands East Valley (all to D-3).
- There was no discussion of possible oversight regarding how in-season invitationals and meets will be conducted.
On that last note -- how will cross country meets be conducted this upcoming season? Will invitationals limit the number of schools participating? Will invites limit the number of entries per race, per school? Will meets operate in 'waves' where different groups competing in the same race start at different times (similar to how marathons are conducted)? How will spectators be managed this upcoming season?
Serving as the largest section in the United States, with over 550 participating schools sprawled out over seven counties, obvious challenges still lie ahead.
Stay tuned folks! Add these questions to the ever-changing list of uncertainties waiting for us as the Southern Section is ready to roll out the season, officially beginning on Saturday, December 26.
CIF-SS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
CIF-SS Prelims at Mt. SAC
Specific times will be in the postseason bulletin
Friday, March 12
Divisions 2 and 4
Saturday, March 13
Divisions 1, 3 and 5
CIF-SS Finals at Mt. SAC
Specific times will be in the postseason bulletin
Saturday, March 20
Div. 2 Girls
Div. 3 Girls
Div. 2 Boys
Div. 3 Boys
Div. 4 Girls
Div. 5 Boys
Div. 1 Girls
Div. 4 Boys
Div. 5 Girls
Div. 1 Boys