National Scholastic Indoor Championships
March 14-16, 2003 at the New York Armory
DyeStat on-site coverage by Don Rich (PennTrackXC) and Matt Soja (Jersey Guy)

Reggie Witherspoon's 46.11
sets off record debate and memories of William Reed

| Reggie Witherspoon speaks out |

The Reed-Witherspoon 400m record debate takes some interesting turns -- the 2 coaches talk about it.

by Don Rich

Christopher Malcolm and Arnie Shiffrin are first, and foremost, track coaches who believe that the sport is for the athletes first, and everybody else second. Malcolm coaches Reggie Witherspoon during the indoor season with his New Horizon Track Club of Lithonia, Georgia. Witherspoon is the Wheeler HS (GA) star who ran 46.11 for 400 meters on Sunday, March 16 at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York. Shiffrin is retired. He coached the legendary William Reed at Central High School in Philadelphia when Reed ran 46.84 at Boston University in 1986 as a sophomore.

Witherspoon ran his time on what is billed as "the world's fastest track." Reed ran his on what was considered one of the fastest 200 meter banked tracks in the nation at the time. The Armory is a modern surface. Boston University's was wooden. Witherspoon ran his against a very fast Jamaican. Reed ran his against a very fast collegian from Ireland who was running for Iona.

Both coaches are now being asked about the discussion in the T&F community over which time is really the prep record. The difference is in the stagger. Witherspoon ran his from a three-turn stagger. Reed ran from his from a two-turn stagger, considered the standard for the 400. Therein lies the controversy.

Some believe the three-turn stagger, which allows the athletes to stay in lanes for an extra 100 meters until they merge to lane one at the 250 meter mark, gives an advantage over the conventional two-turn stagger, where the athletes merge at 150 meters. As the thinking goes, there is less jostling for position, and therefore, less chance of being slowed. The three-turn stagger purportedly is safer, because the athletes are separated longer.

The discussion during the week following the record-setting run at the Armory centered on the legitimacy of the record time as run from a three-turn stagger. The apparent solution to keep BOTH as indoor records – one for two-turn stagger (or less), and one for three-lane stagger – has garnered reaction from both Malcolm and Shiffrin. Not surprisingly, both center on the athletes involved.

"He did not decide on the three-turn stagger. In fact, when he was informed it would be the three-turn, he was annoyed" Malcolm says of Witherspoon. "I had to get him refocused on his race. I simply told him that his first 300 would benefit him. He just smiled."

Shiffrin said he "wondered a little how he (Witherspoon) could take off so much time after coming so close to the record" earlier in the season on an oversized track. "You have to adjust .5 for the Armory banked surface, and then the three-turn stagger would definitely help him." But Shiffrin, who has seen and coached races on every surface, still believes it would be too close to call. "It's a pick-em. 46.11 is fast on any track. I give the kid all the credit."

Shiffrin believes that keeping both as records is "a fair solution. I'm glad to see Jim Spier is ranking results by the type of track, flat or banked or oversized. It makes a difference. And the three-turn stagger helps the time."

Malcolm believes there is more to the controversy than simply two-turn vs. three-turn. He believes that the entire discussion is simply a manifestation of the ongoing battle between the New York meet and the Nike Indoor Classic. "I believe there is a lot of politics involved and Reggie's efforts are being tainted. There is a war raging and this kid is being used. It's a disgrace for this to go on."

[Editor's Note: DyeStat has heard of nothing that would connect the debate over the 400 meter record with the rivalry between the New York and Maryland meets.]

Malcolm plans to pursue his athlete's case to ensure that the record stands. "Reggie wanted to know what he did wrong. He did the training. He showed up. He ran the race they laid out. He set the record. Now what do I tell him?"

Malcolm believes that no matter how many staggers, "he was going to break the record that day. I had him at 20.86 at the 200. I actually expected 45.8 to .9 based on his workouts."

Both coaches are disappointed by the controversy. Shiffrin says that he would pay to see both race against each other in their prime.

Malcolm is concerned that it is politics, not athletic performance, which is fueling the controversy. "What message are we sending to our kids when they go out and work hard and achieve something, and then you take it away? If you're going to wage your war, leave the kids out of it. When kids pay for adults, that is where I draw the line."

So what if the two raced? Shiffrin would give the nod to Reed. "He just refused to lose." Malcolm says Witherspoon's philosophy is that "it takes 44 seconds for lactic acid to build up, so the closer he can get to that time, the less he has to deal with it." "Unfortunately, we'll never know," concludes Shiffrin.

But Shiffrin does know what he would do if the decision were up to him. He would give the record to just one guy. Witherspoon. "I'd let his record stand. Time goes on, and records were made to be broken."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution story on Witherspoon

Solomon's decision by T&FN:
both records will count

by John Dye

The authority on high school track and field records in the US is Track and Field News magazine. T&FN high school editor Jack Shepard publishes the HIGH SCHOOL TRACK annuals with all time records. Shepard told DyeStat that T&FN would recognize both Witherspoon and William Reed as record holders, maintaining separate categories for a 3-turn stagger and 2-turn stagger.

This decision followed considerable debate in the community on the t-and-f mailing list, on DyeStat's TrackTalk message board, and in email to DyeStat. Below are some excerpts.

Kimberley Spir on t-and-f
Witherspoon's record should count

What was done right, or wrong, according to regulation and why should this excellent athlete be denied a well-deserved record? Who decides the high school records in this country and what platform is acknowledged internationally and by whom in the US? Why are some records kept, others not? Are these sorts of regulations administered, by whom? Who is responsible for the record-keeping and decision-making for this sport in this country if secondary after-the-fact decisions like this can be made when an official, at the meet, determines, after a review of the rules at hand, that for safety reasons this is the best way to run the race? Please clarify why the Witherspoon performance, beautiful and awesome, in fact his whole weekend of sprint ecstacy, is just a wash to you official record decision makers? Who are you?

Ben Hall responding to Spir on t-and-f
Doesn't meet test of a record

Here is my personal (i.e. NOT as a TFN editor) response. Let me also say that Witherspoon's time is a great effort but simply doesn't stand up to the test as a record.

Let's start with a quote from the Atlanta Journal Constitution article on Witherspoon, "Meet officials were operating under U.S. Track and Field rules, which they say do not specify which turn must be used 'It is still 400 meters no matter if you break at the third or second turn,' said Bob Rothenberg, a member of the games committee at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. 'As far as we are concerned, it is a valid record. Show me the rule that says it is not and I will apologize. We did nothing illegal and Mr. Witherspoon deserves the record.'"

Here is that rule: 62.8.b "The 400 Meters shall be run in lanes around two turns."

Based on this rule alone I believe that no records/governing body shoud accept Witherspoon's mark as a record.

Why does a three turn stagger matter? Using a three turn stagger (~250m before breaking) allows athletes to stay in their lanes for ~100 more than a two turn stagger (~150m before breaking). And thus the nature of the event is changed. There is less jostling, less work for position early in the race, etc. Because of this calling it a record when it cannot be effectively compared with Reed's time, or any other time for that matter is extremely problematic.

In private discussions, three of us with a combined track watching experience of more than 100 years could not think of a single chanpionship 400 run with a three turn stagger. So, why on earth would any official, coach, or meet director even let the idea cross his or her mind that this was an acceptable practice?

This is enough for us to start with. I won't get into all the "who should be doing this job" issues as I feel that any records body should come to the same decision.

Ben

Garry Hill responding to Spir on t-and-f
Witherspoon's time intrinsically better, but officials actions bar record

Relevant history lesson: once upon a time there was a sprinter named Willie Smith. Great sprinter, in fact, who went on to make the '80 Olympic team. When Willie was a high schooler (Uniondale, NY) he ran 9.3 for 100y to tie the national record. If you look in Jack Shepard's "High School Track," the defintive work on prep athletics, you won't find that mark on the all-time list. Why not? Because a decade or so later, the guy who was running the wind gauge that day made the mistake of telling the wrong person (and I paraphrase), "You know, the wind reading was over 2mps that day, but Willie was such a good kid, who really deserved the record, that I changed the reading."

If you don't see the parallel, this is akin to your classification of the Witherspoon mark as "beautiful and awesome." I'm sure it was. And I'm sure it's intrinsically (far) better than the 2-turn mark of 46.83 that's recognized as the HSR. But Records are not handed out on the basis of beauty and citizenship. They're based on meeting a cold hard set of criteria, and Witherspoon's mark, sadly, fails. Does he get screwed? Surely. Did he screw himself? No. He got screwed by officials who arbitrarily (albeit well-meaningly) went against the rules. And not in some nit-picky way (like wearing jewelry); in a way that allowed for faster times than normal.

gh

Robert Hersh responding to Spir on t-and-f
3-turn stagger is an advantage and you have to be fair to all parties, not just to Witherspoon

Spir: What was done right, or wrong, according to regulation and why should this excellent athlete be denied a well-deserved record?

To phrase the question this way does not further rational discourse. It assumes a particular conclusion to the debatable question of whether this performance should or should be recognized as a record.

Spir: Who decides the high school records in this country and what platform is acknowledged internationally and by whom in the US?

Jack Shepard is the High School Men's Editor of Track and Field News, which keeps the US High School records that we are talking about. I do not keep such records nor does USATF. The National Federation of State High School Associations would not in any event recognize this mark as a record because the meet was not held under Federation rules. I don't believe the Federation keeps indoor records anyway. Nobody keeps these records internationally--there are no such records. If there were, the Witherspoon mark would certainly not be allowed because the IAAF rules very clearly state that the indoor 400 is run with a two-turn stagger. (See IAAF Rule 214.6)

Let me add one point. Record-keeping involves judgments about fairness. Every time you recognize a record, you take one away from the existing record holder, and you create a new barrier for all those attempting to set a record in the future. You have to be fair to all parties concerned, not just the runner whose performance is being considered for recognition as a new record.

The universal practice in running the indoor 400 is to run it around a two-turn stagger. I have been watching indoor track meets for decades and I don't think I've ever seen or even heard of another indoor 400 conducted as this one was. There is no doubt that running the race around a 3-turn stagger (or entirely in lanes) is advantageous to the runners, for the reasons Ben Hall has mentioned and also because it allows the runner to run in the wider lane (in this case lane 5) for one more turn, rather than in the tighter lane one, which would otherwise be used after the break point. On the assumption that future meets will continue to be run as they always have--with a two-turn stagger--recognizing this mark as the sole HS indoor 400m record could be unfair not only to William Reed but to potentially generations of young 400m runners who will follow.

Bob H