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- How can I earn a varsity letter?
- To earn a varsity letter, you must satisfy at least one of the following requirements:
- 1. Win a medal in a varsity event at a championship meet, a relay meet, or an invitational.
2. Place in the top six or make the finals in a varsity event at a championship meet.
3. Perform at least as well as the mark(s) given for your event(s) in the VARSITY LEVEL PERFORMANCES
tables, which appear later in this document.
4. Have the top performance on the team in a standard event at the end of the season. The standard events
are those contested in any of the championship meets and do not include the events whose names are
italicized in the VARSITY LEVEL PERFORMANCES tables. This criterion only applies if there are at least five
documented varsity performances from our team in that event over the course of the season if it is an individual
event and at least three documented varsity performances from our team in that event over the course of the
season if it is a relay event.
- Will I earn a varsity letter if I come to practice everyday?
- No. A varsity letter is not a certificate of participation. Giving varsity letters for coming to practice everyday
would be analogous to naming students to the high honor roll for having perfect attendance in school. A varsity
letter is something to be earned, not something to be given. It needs to represent something. If everyone
gets a varsity letter, a varsity letter won’t mean anything anymore.
- What if I work really hard?
- You are required to work hard, but that alone will not earn you a varsity letter. If you do not wish to work hard,
track & field is not the sport for you.
- Where did the performances in the VARSITY LEVEL PERFORMANCES tables come from?
- The coaches met and mutually agreed on the performance levels in the tables in the standard events. For the
non-standard events, the IAAF Scoring Tables were consulted to determine equivalent performances to the
standard events. For instance, the IAAF Sprint Table was consulted to find the 300-meter performance that is
roughly equivalent to the 400-meter performance decided upon by the coaching staff.
- What is the IAAF?
- The IAAF is the International Association of Athletics Federations. It is the international governing body for
track and field, cross country, road racing, and race walking. The governing body for these activities within the
United States is the USATF.
- Why are the non-standard events listed in the table?
- The coaching staff is nothing if not thorough. There are some meets that contest the 1500 and 3000 or the Mile
and 2-Mile instead of the 1600 and 3200. We wanted to be complete and have marks for these events, just in
case. As for events such as the 300, 600, 1000, they are contested at certain indoor meets but are not indoor
championship events. Most other events listed are seldom contested, but they are events that were at least at
one time recognized by the IAAF, so they also appear in the table, again, just in case. The 1200 appears in the
table because it is the opening leg of the distance medley relay. It is seldom, if ever, contested as an open
event. The 5000 is rarely contested on the track in high school competition. In certain meets, races measured
in the imperial system are contested, so these events have been included as well.
- What about the Dunn Center? That place is a joke! How am I supposed to run fast there?
- We know it is a joke. And we know it is impossible to run fast there in any event where you must make at least
one turn. We will evaluate your performances on the Dunn Center "track" accordingly.
- Do relay splits count?
- Due to the unreliability of relay splits, relay splits will only be considered for leg distances of 400 meters and
longer, taken at the center of the exchange zone, only on a track of exactly 200 meters in length. These splits
must have been documented by a coach.
- Who keeps track of the points I have earned and my performances?
- The coaches keep the official records. Every effort is made to document your performances in every meet. This
is done for numerous reasons. Most importantly, it is done to track your development. Meet results will be
posted on this website as they are received and as time permits.
- Will performances in sub-varsity events be considered?
- Your times, heights, and/or distances will be considered regardless of the level of competition in which they
were achieved. The only exception is that in the shot put, the implement used must be of the same weight as
that used in varsity-level competition. The earning of sub-varsity medals will not be considered.
- What do HT and FAT mean in the VARSITY LEVEL PERFORMANCES tables?
- HT stands for hand-timed. This means that your official time was taken with a stopwatch. FAT stands for fully-
automatic timing. FAT times are more accurate than hand times, as an automatic timing system is not affected
by human reaction time.
- How were times converted from HT to FAT?
- This was done through the use of the accepted conversion factors given in the Big Gold Book from Track & Field
News. For races that start at or very close to the common finish line, 0.14 seconds are added to the hand-time
to get the FAT time. For all other races, 0.24 seconds are added to the hand-time to get the FAT time.
- How were 1600 times converted to 1500 and Mile times? How were 3200 times converted to 3000 and 2-Mile times?
These conversions were also done according to the accepted conversion factors given in the Big Gold Book.
- What if I go to a meet and all of the field events are measured using the metric system?
- The VARSITY LEVEL PERFORMANCES tables give all marks in both the imperial system (feet and inches) and
the metric system (meters, rounded to two decimal places of accuracy).
- Is there a maximum number of letters that will be awarded?
- No.
- Is there a minimum number of letters that will be awarded?
- No.
- What if I earned a letter last winter?
- This has no bearing on whether you will earn a varsity letter this winter or not. You must earn your letter every
season.
- What if I earned a letter in cross country and/or spring track & field?
- This also has no bearing on whether you will earn a varsity letter this spring or not. Again, you must earn your
letter every season.
- What if I get injured during the season?
- The awarding of a varsity letter will be at the discretion of the coaching staff. They will evaluate your
development up to the point of your injury and determine if you would have earned a varsity letter. If you are
injured while participating in an unauthorized activity, such as a club sport, you may not be awarded a letter,
regardless of other factors.
- What if I was injured during the previous cross country season and have a long recovery?
- The awarding of a varsity letter will once again be at the discretion of the coaching staff. A necessary but
insufficient condition is that your best 5000-meter cross country time from that season exceeds the standard in
the table below.
- Am I guaranteed a varsity letter if the conditions above are met?
- No. Factors such as poor attendance may weigh against your favor. You must be at practice and at the meets.
The decision as to what qualifies as an excused absence rests with the coaches, not with the athletes. You
must also do everything asked of you by the coaches. You must conduct yourself in the appropriate manner at
all times, which includes working your hardest and being respectful to your teammates, coaches, opponents,
and the officials. Refer also to the Team Rules, Regulations, and Guidelines.
- How do I earn a junior varsity certificate?
- This is done through attendance at and effort in both practices and meets. Signing up for the team does not
guarantee that you will earn a junior varsity certificate. At the very least, you must be at practice, working your
hardest, everyday.
- Will the VARSITY LEVEL PERFORMANCES tables be the same next winter?
- Not necessarily. The tables will be re-evaluated every season. There will be different tables for spring track
and field, as the events are different, and performances differ when competing indoors versus when competing
outdoors.
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