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DyeStat Maryland
Middletown girl DQ'd
for logo on under shorts
Fastest 400 meters in 20-year history of Frederick County meet is thrown out; a coach and parent responds
5/11/00 -- Middletown sr Tyler Caudle trailed Rachel Sigsbury of Linganore at 250 meters when she exploded around the last turn to win by 2 seconds in 57.6. It was the fastest girls 400 meters ever run in the Frederick County championships, breaking the great Michelle Higginbottom's record.
But the Middletown joy lasted less than a minute. Officials noticed a faded Nike logo on spandex undershorts worn under Caudle's uniform shorts. The logo was slightly longer than the 2.25 inches allowed by National Federation rules.
Dave Buzzell, an assistant coach at Middletown and parent of Middletown runners Randy and Emily Buzzell, wrote this letter to the editor after the meet:
At the Frederick County track championships on May 11, Tyler Caudle of Middletown High School ran the 400 meters in 57.6 seconds. It was the fastest 400 meters ever run by a girl in twenty years of the county championships.
Tyler's remarkable feat went unrecognized in the Frederick News-Post the next day and will go unrecorded in the county record books. After the race was over, she was disqualified by a meet official because a manufacturer's logo imprinted on her shorts was larger than 2-1/4 inches by 2-1/4 inches. A protest was made, but the official's decision was upheld by the games committee. And that was that: Tyler's great achievement was taken away from her-first by the meet official and then by the games committee.
Two years ago, I wrote about the unfairness of the track and cross country uniform rules that have resulted in the disqualification of so many athletes. My letter then was about the "unmatching sports bra" disqualification of the winner of the 1998 Central Maryland Conference cross country championship. Since that time, uniform disqualifications have happened over and over again. The winner of the 60-meter dash at this year's indoor track championships was disqualified because she wore the "wrong kind" of barrette in her hair. Last fall, a cross-country race was delayed while a meet official checked to see if a girl's hair ribbon was allowable. The ribbon was orange-one of Middletown's team colors-and thus could have been ruled decorative and subject to the competitor's disqualification unless it could be proven that the ribbon was functional. Fortunately, the ribbon was decreed functional and the race proceeded. During the cross-country state championships, some of the Middletown boys wore knee-high orange socks and spray-painted their hair orange. No problem there, however: socks and hair are functional. I do not take issue with this display of school spirit. It demonstrates, though, how arcane and silly some of the rules are when an orange ribbon is grounds for disqualification, but orange hair and socks are not.
One of the historical greatnesses of track is its pure objectivity. The one who breaks the tape first is declared the winner. If a competitor runs outside her lane and thus runs a shorter distance, then she should be disqualified. If one competitor impedes another's progress or displays unsportsmanlike conduct, then those transgressions should be punished also. But to disqualify a competitor because a manufacturer's logo is greater than 2-1/4 inches square is idiocy. Every fair-minded person at the meet was troubled by the decision. All of the other girls in the race were upset that a fellow competitor had been unjustly denied her victory. Numerous spectators came up and offered their condolences to Tyler and their condemnation for what the track officials had done.
Frederick County track athletes cannot be expected to know all the regulations in the high school track and field rulebook. They are not given a copy of the rulebook when they join the team, and even if they were, it is a ponderous body of work, full of rules, articles, notes, sections, and subsections. I bet that no coach or meet official knows all the rules. (For those who want to take me up on the bet: What are the allowable weight and dimensions of a relay baton? And no looking in the rulebook first, just as Tyler didn't have that luxury.)
When I approached a meet official about the disqualification, I was gravely informed that "The rule has been on the books for 40 years and must be enforced." Well, there's a section in the rulebook called "Preventive officiating-team uniforms." The section calls upon the coaches and meet officials to inspect all uniforms prior to competition to avoid disqualifications. Tyler wore those same shorts the entire track season and was never disqualified. At the county championships, she checked in and took her place at the starting line without any official questioning her uniform. She was observed by the bullpen official, the finish judge, the timers, and the starter. No one said a word. Once the race was over, one official nabbed her. That's not "preventive officiating." That's "gotcha" officiating.
The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius" which means "Faster, higher, braver." Tyler's effort exemplified that ideal. The Frederick County track officials operate according to a different ideal. Their motto is "Got you again."
Dave Buzzell
