Dear Coach,

We are notifying you in advance in hopes that you will consider participating in the 16^th Annual St. Paul’s Relays on Friday - Saturday, March 7-8, 2008. Historically, the majority of participating schools have come from the Mobile-Baldwin County area. However, we usually have strong regional representation by out-of state teams who travel annually to compete in this unique event.

What makes our meet different from most is that all Varsity events are scored in relay –fashion. The field and hurdle event marks will be compiled by combining the best efforts of each team’s top three (3) performers and we lowered the minimum standards in several field events. This overall format seems particularly suited to an early season, large invitational, allowing most of your varsity and junior varsity athletes to participate in multiple events. This opportunity provides your team the opportunity to focus on establishing depth and discovering talent that can be developed as the season progresses. This year the meet will take place over two days with all JV events (non scored) along with selected Varsity events held on Friday afternoon. The remainder of the varsity events will be completed on Saturday. Athletes entered in JV events may not compete in Varsity events.

All events are run as finals or sections-on-time, so there will be no qualifying preliminaries. T-shirts will be given to winning event team members. There will be awards to the athlete who wins each individual field event and hurdle competition. Team awards will be presented to the Champion and Runner-up Team in each division.

Enclosed you will find an event schedule for your information, and note that we finish early enough on Saturday for out-of-town schools to return home that evening. The meet ought to end around lunchtime which is much earlier than in previous years. This year all entries will be handled online through CoachO.com…the address is http://www.coacho.com/meet/entry/al_stpauls . Please do not delay in entering the meet as it will be limited to the first 20 teams that register on-line.

Our track and stadium are most attractive and functional. The track has an EPDM polyurethane surface, which is unique to this part of the country. We have 7 lanes around with 8 lane straight-a-way, as well as multiple pole vault, long and triple jump pits and shot-put circles.

Best wishes for a successful season. We hope that you will be able to join us this year!

Sincerely,

Jim Tate                                                          

Head Coach                                         

General Meet Information:

Date: Friday - Saturday, March 7-8, 2008

Site:  St. Paul’s Episcopal School, Chandler Track at Delaney Stadium, 161 Dogwood Lane, Mobile, AL 36608-1398

Sanction:  Alabama High School Athletic Association, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia High School Athletic Associations

Entry Fee Deadline: $35.00 per team (boys and girls separate teams) or $5.00 per individual.. Payments

are due by Wednesday, March 8^th. A late fee of $10.00 per team will be charged to any school not paying in

advance of the meet. Make checks payable to St. Paul’s Episcopal School. Please mail to Attn: Jim Tate, St.

Paul’s Episcopal School, 161 Dogwood Lane, Mobile, AL 36608.

On-line Entry: On-line Entries are due Wednesday, March  5th.  Meet entries will be handled online                                                                                                        http://www.coacho.com/meet/entry/al_stpauls

 Rules:  The rules of the national federation and AHSAA will be followed. Athletes are restricted to a total of 4 events. Athletes entered in JV events may not compete in Varsity events.

Scoring: Relays only: 10-8-6-4-2-1 (hurdle events will be scored by combining the top three performances from each school, field events will be scored by combining the top three performances from each school)

Awards:  Trophies to the championship and runner-up teams. T-shirts to the winning teams in each event.

Trophies to Champion and Runner-up team in both divisions. T-shirts to the individual winners of field   events and hurdle races.

Scratches & Awards: Scratches are requested prior to the meet at the coaches meeting.

Substitutes are allowed ONLY where entries have been placed. Adds will be allowed only where lanes and space are available. Sections and flights will not be rearranged to accommodate.

Event Officials:  St. Paul’s will make every attempt to provide officials at each event. However, each

participating school will be asked to furnish one competent adult to assist with officiating at the meet.

School assignments as needed will be made at the coaches meeting prior to the meet.       

Concessions: A full line of concessions will be available at the track. Numerous fast food establishments

and restaurants are located within one mile of the school.

Participation Limitations:  Schools may enter two relays per event. Two teams are eligible for scoring in the relay running events. However, only one relay team per school is eligible for scoring in the hurdle and field events. Three competitors comprise a relay team in the hurdle events and field events.

Spikes: Spike length may not exceed ¼” on running and jumping surfaces.

 Event Schedule:

Field Events                                 Boys                Minimum Standard        Girls          Minimum Standard

                                    Running Events

           Special Notes

1.             Long Jump, Triple Jump, Shot Put, Javelin, and Discus competition will be run as “open pit / ring” events. All entrants are to report to these events during the designated “time window” and be assigned to flights for competition.

2.             100/110 Hurdle and 300 M Hurdle Relay scoring will combine the times of top three competitors from each school for a team score. Schools may enter up to four competitors.

3.             Alabama has adopted the Rubber –Tipped Javelin as an event. Out of state entrants may borrow implements as needed. Steel-tipped Javelins may not be used or brought to the meet!

4.             Special meet rules will be in effect for the high jump. These rules are explained on the attached Special Meet Rules sheet.

 Special Meet Rules:

1.  Any athlete entered in a non-scored JV event may not enter any Varsity event.

2. Team relays in running / track events

            Four runners per relay team required to score, three runners in hurdle events. Enter your team’s realistic time in order for them to be placed accordingly in sections for fair competition. Schools may enter a 2^nd relay team if desired in all track races. Only one relay team per school is eligible for scoring in the hurdle events.

2.    Team relays in field events

            Field event relays, like the two hurdle events, must consist of three competitors per school to score team points. Teams can enter up to four athletes per event in the field events. However, only the top three competitors for each school will be eligible to score relay points. Three competitors must meet the qualifying mark to be eligible for team relay scoring or to have their mark substituted for a designated competitor.

3.      Special rules for High Jump

In order to expedite the competition, each competitor will be given only six attempts at any height they choose with their highest clearance counting as their scoring mark. The bar can either be raised or lowered as the competitor chooses for any their 6 attempts. Please go over this procedure with your competitors in advance of the meet.

         On-line Meet Entry special instructions:

          Enter your athletes on-line:       http://www.coacho.com/meet/entry/al_stpauls                                                         

All field & hurdle relays:  List three designated competitor’s names and marks for each event. You may enter up to four total competitors in the field and hurdle events. However, only the top three performers for each school, meeting the minimum standards, will eligible to score team points. You may enter less than three competitors but they will not be eligible for scoring purposes.