City Shoots Down Appeal to Hold Qualifying Meet

A special City Section qualifying meet that would allow City runners to compete in the state cross-country championships will not be held, a City administrator said Friday.

In an appeals hearing Friday, Dick Browning, an administrator in the L. A. Unified School District, upheld Thursday’s rules committee vote to deny scheduling the meet.

“There were too many scheduling problems,” Browning said. “It wasn’t feasible to stage the proposed meet on any Saturday in November.

“Nov. 7 is the last date that seniors can take the Scholastic Aptitude Test for entrance into University of California schools. Nov. 14 is the L. A. City academic decathlon, so personnel to stage a meet would be limited, and Nov. 21 is only two to four days before the league meets.”

Browning added that a state qualifying meet would force some runners to compete in four races within a week and a half.

“That’s asking an awful lot of a kid,” he said.

The City championships are scheduled Dec. 12, too late to act as a qualifying meet for the state championships, which will be held Nov. 28 in Fresno. The City will be the only one of 10 sections statewide not to compete in the state championships, which are being held for the first time.

A City coaches’ panel, headed by Gary Mazziotti of Birmingham High, will meet next Tuesday to discuss the feasibility of a qualifying meet for next season.