MPA made right call at state ski meet

Paul Cyr’s letter to the BDN of May 22, “MPA should apologize for mistake at ski meet,” while heartfelt, is inaccurate.

Before addressing this specifically, I feel compelled to make several disclosures. I was not at the meet and speak here only to the applicable rules. I was employed for several years as a race foreman in the Sugarloaf Competition Center where I worked on the U.S. National Alpine and Freestyle Championships. I am a USSA ski official certified as a Technical Delegate, Referee, Chief of Race, Chief of Course, Chief of Timing and Calculations, and hold the highest rating as a Course Official.

I was, while serving as the liaison to the MPA ski committee on behalf of the Maine Ski Coaches Association, instrumental in convincing the MPA to hire nationally certified ski officials for the state meets. Prior to this, these meets were officiated solely by school principals who had an interest, but not necessarily an expertise, in the sport. Now certified USSA technical delegates work with MPA officials to run these meets by the Maine high school rules. Lastly, I should mention that I was, until two years ago, the head ski coach at John Bapst, the school the 2007 girls skimeister attends.

Certifying a skimeister requires careful analysis of all the finish data in the four events held in high school skiing – giant slalom, slalom, freestyle cross country, and classical cross country. The rules have been altered several times in the last five years in a diligent attempt to discover the fairest way to determine the best overall skier in each division. Part of this process involves an exhausting review of each skier’s times and places, both for team scoring purposes and for skimeister rankings.

In Alpine events the margin between places may be one-hundredth of a second. To that end, all state meets have both primary and secondary electronic timers, and time-of-day, backup, hand-timed results. This is the format followed in the World Cup and Olympics. It should further be noted that at the Class C Championships, the USSA Technical Delegate who worked the meet is one of the most senior in the state and is certified in both Alpine and Nordic skiing, a designation few attain.

After each run of each Alpine event, time permitting, or at the conclusion of each Alpine race, a list of any athletes who were disqualified by gatekeepers or course officials, or were judged to have not finished the course, is posted at a predetermined site. These are, at the time, unofficial results. A 15-minute protest period ensues where these disqualifications may be challenged. A coach may question the disqualification and, if the Technical Delegate upholds it, may then appeal to the race jury. Suspected timing anomalies may be brought up at this time but can be investigated beyond those 15 minutes and, if need be, rectified when the results are made official by the MPA Technical Delegates.

An official protest requires a monetary deposit. If the protest is upheld, the money is returned. If [the result is] sustained, the funds are forfeited to the organizing body. However, under high school rules, any mistake in the order of finish, in transcribing a score or time, may be fixed whenever it is discovered without a monetary deposit. An error discovered after the athletes have departed from the championships could still be rectified.

MPA officials spend hours ensuring that results are correct. If they find an error, they correct it. This is superior to the situation in other sports where a “blown call” is deemed part of the game. The MPA should be applauded not excoriated for getting this call right. This is difficult and exacting work.

Mr. Cyr feels that adequate information regarding the discovery of a mistake was not provided to an athlete who then played it safe and lost the title she thought she had. Such a strategy often backfires and really should not be part of this debate. This is about correcting a mistake, not about an athlete getting an advantage and that must be made clear.

Mr. Cyr expressed his displeasure to the athletic director at Fort Kent who investigated and called his counterpart at John Bapst to say that he was satisfied that the correct call had been made. To be doubly sure that the Bapst athlete had won fairly, the Bapst AD, Mike Thomas, asked me to explain the process to him. As was the case with the MPA, the USSA Technical Delegate, the school administrators, and the race administrations, he wanted to be sure this was done right.

Continuing to “protest” in the press what he feels was an unfairly adjudicated decision neither flatters Mr. Cyr nor represents the spirit of friendly competition that I have observed as dominating high school ski racing in Maine, an attitude that has long been a trademark of the very successful and admired program at Fort Kent Community High School. It also insults the winner by suggesting that the title she won fair and square is somehow tainted.

Bruce Pratt

Eddington

UM teams’ academic success noteworthy

As a UMaine professor, I am privileged to work closely with outstanding students day in and day out. The personal sacrifices that many students make to excel in an academic environment are inspiring and praiseworthy.

I am often particularly impressed by student-athletes, who face significant demands on their time and attention. That is why it is so important to note their classroom accomplishments, especially when they excel in a national context.

I was pleased to recently note that UMaine’s women’s cross country and women’s swimming teams were recognized by the NCAA for academic achievement.

Those Black Bear teams are among the top 10 percent of all teams nationally in their respective sports, as measured by the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate scores.

Several other UMaine teams also did exceptionally well, reflecting this university’s commitment to the academic well-being of our student-athletes.

Our coaches, administrators and support personnel share in the credit for this noteworthy achievement, which demonstrates that UMaine has intercollegiate sports in the proper perspective.

Prof. Sandra L. Caron

Chair, UMaine Athletic Advisory Board

Orono

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