Court to Hear Appeal of Alemany Runner Disqualified in Meet

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge today will hear the appeal of an Alemany High runner who was disqualified during the Southern Section cross-country finals for being unfairly aided by his father.

Charles Johnson, an attorney for Peter De La Cerda, filed the appeal Tuesday. Should the court rule in favor of De La Cerda, the fifth-place finisher in the 3-A Division, he would be allowed to compete in the state Division II championships in Fresno on Saturday.

De La Cerda qualified for the state meet with a time of 15 minutes, 36 seconds over the 3-mile course at Mt. San Antonio College. He was disqualified after the race because his father, Phil, used a megaphone to cheer him on during the race.

According to Dean Crowley, the Southern Section administrator who disqualified De La Cerda, use of a megaphone is a violation of Rule 9, Section 6, Article 4, of the National Federation of track and field and cross-country rule book.

The rule states: “A runner shall be disqualified who is unfairly aided by a coach, teammate, or anyone connected with, or associated with, the competitor.”

Phil De La Cerda said he had no idea that he was violating a rule.

“I feel really bad about it,” he said. “I was filming the race at various parts of the course and I just used the megaphone to cheer Pete on.”

Alemany assistant Pat Connelly said he knew of the rule prohibiting the use of megaphones at meets, but that he had no idea the elder De La Cerda was using one to encourage his son.

“I heard a megaphone at the start of the race,” Connelly said. “But I didn’t realize who was using it. My daughter was running in a race on Saturday and I was pretty wrapped up in that.”