Attorney to Submit Video for Bethel

An attorney representing Mission Viejo junior Dana Bethel said he will provide the Southern Section a videotape today that shows the third flight of hurdles were placed in the wrong location during the girls’ 100-meter hurdles race in the Masters track and field meet Friday at Cerritos College.

Bethel was disqualified when she ran through the third hurdle, which appeared to be set at the mark for a boys’ 110-meter hurdles race, four feet further than it should have been, attorney Jim Bastion said. The top five in the event qualified for the state finals, where Bethel was runner-up last season.

Bastion, who also represents two other athletes who didn’t qualify, said he filed a formal written appeal with the Southern Section Tuesday and has been asked by Commissioner Jim Staunton to review the tape before submitting it to the section office this morning. However, section officials said they may not be allowed to view it, Bastion said.

The National Federation of State High School Assns., the governing body in the U.S. for high school track and field, states in its rule book that video replay and television monitoring equipment, other than officially approved equipment furnished by meet officials, cannot be used to make decisions related to the meet.

“They need to determine whether they may view the tape because of the national rule,” Bastion said.

If the tape is not viewed, Bastion plans to file an injunction with the state court in hopes the race will be rerun before the state preliminaries Friday at Cerritos College.

“An injunction wouldn’t necessarily be to stop the event from occurring,” Bastion said. “We could ask for a formal hearing, which allows evidence to be heard, or the alternative would provide that the race be rerun before the state meet.”

The videotape obtained by Bastion doesn’t show the lane markings crews use when setting up hurdle events, but it does show some awkward footwork used by the competitors to navigate over the hurdles. Three girls seen in the frame used an extra step in their normal three-step sequence before stretching out to clear the hurdle. To compensate for the shorter distance on the other side, the girls stutter-step before regaining their strides.

Immediately following the race, there was some discussion between coaches and meet officials. However, the hurdles were quickly re-positioned for the boys’ 110-hurdle race that followed.

The qualifying times in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles were one-half to a full second slower than qualifying times from the section finals, which were also held at Cerritos College.

“It certainly could have been handled with a lot more efficiency,” said Dana Bethel’s mother, Abby. “All they needed to do was see the awkwardness of the race to tell something was terribly wrong.”