Question about large starts in track and field

I was at the Razorback Invitational this afternoon. When it came time for the women’s DMR, I noticed something. According to the on-line entry sheet, there were 8 squads entered (although I swear that I saw 9 out there.) Oregon had 2 squads entered. One Oregon athlete had a low hip number (2). The other had an 8. At the start, all were lined up on the track from low to high, from the inside lane to the outside. EXCEPT for Oregon hip 8 who lined up next to her teammate. So she was lined up in the third spot.

Is that the way it is supposed to work? Can the runners just line up where they please?

Assuming the DMR was standing start, which sounds like the case, they can pretty much line up wherever. If they’re assigned to lanes, you line up in your lane, but the Tyson track isn’t eight or nine lanes.

Thanks. Yes it was a standing start.

DMR laps are 1200, 400, 800, 1600.
OBTW, the Arkansas women set a school record.

Yeah I just read the writeup on WHS. Sounds like a nice meet. I probably should have watched that instead of gymnastics, where the Wallets were hanging up 10s and we were falling off the bars.

I’m convinced Florida has found a bunch of very lenient judges. Yeah, they’re very good gymnasts (Jordyn’s recruiting needs to catch up with theirs), but I’ve seen our girls get 9.9s at Barnhill with identical performances.

This is why I can’t really get into gymnastics.
Any sport that is based completely on an official’s opinion makes me skeptical

I didn’t watch the meet last night so I’m not saying their was bias to Florida, but wouldn’t surprise me

Once we quit screwing up we got very good scores too. It just seems like a routine that gets a 9.85 or 9.9 at Barnhill gets a higher score at Gainesville.

Someone said that same thing to me this week. But I grew up showing horses. We were judged. After I quit showing horses, I began showing dogs. All of the dog events (shows, obedience, field trials, etc.) are judged. Some have point scales, others are purely subjective. All of that to say, I’m used to it.

I’ve followed enough sports for over fifty years that I think any official is subject to bias, intimidation and/or money. I forgot blind.

I do believe they know who the home team is and like to hear cheers. Human nature. There were some in basketball that called “against” the home team to prove they could. Generally, they didn’t last long.

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