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After Week 1, over 250 athletes see action in All Schools
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Posted on Apr 17 2006
After just one week of competition, the qualifiers leading up to the 2006 McDonald’s All Schools Track and Field Championships has already attracted a large number of athletes.
In all, the four days of competition has featured about 265 students from 12 Saipan schools, including elementary, junior high, and high schools.
The qualifiers resumed yesterday and will continue from Monday to Thursday, with the final qualifier scheduled for April 27.
After then, Northern Marianas Athletics officials will finalize the list of qualifiers for all events.
Individuals will compete for slots in the Championships, which will be held May 6. An individual is limited to just four events for the Championships, with exception to the 11-and-under and 9-and-under participants who are competing in the 800m and 1,500m events, who will be competing in only three events.
Six slots will be available for Saipan athletes, as the two remaining spots will be reserved for Tinian and Rota participants. In the case that Rota or Tinian does not have a competitor in an event, the next best finisher from the Saipan qualifiers will take the slot.
Each event will also count in the team scoring, with each first place finish earning 10 points, second place earning eight points, third place six points, fourth place four points, fifth place two points, and sixth place one point.
Team trophies will be awarded to the top three schools in each age category for boys and girls. Medals will also be presented to the top three performers in each event.
Meanwhile, NMA also released rules for protests, stressing that all protests must be lodged initially with the referee. Appeals to the jury are to be made in writing on the appropriate appeal form, which will be available at the information center.
Also, an athlete will be excluded from participating in all further events in the competition if he or she fails to participate in events in which they qualified for without a reasonable excuse. The exclusion also includes relays where an athlete has qualified.
For more information, contact NMA coaches director Elias Rangamar at 664-2502 or email to eli_rang@yahoo.com or email NMA secretary general Robin Sapong at sapong@pticom.com.
