MONROE - Cross country coaches in southwest Wisconsin are upset with how a rule change came down the pike that will require girls to run farther in cross country races this season.
The federal Office of Civil Rights received a complaint April 7 claiming Title IX gender discrimination since Wisconsin doesn't allow girls to run the same 5,000-meter cross country course boys are expected to finish. The Office of Civil Rights received complaints from several schools claiming gender discrimination since girls were running a 4,000-meter race instead of a 5,000 meters.
When the issue of expanding the girls course to 5,000 meters came up last year, the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association rejected the plan and agreed to table the issue for three years. Monroe Athletic Director and cross country coach Dave Hirsbrunner said the WIAA caved to the pressure of a potential lawsuit and switched the course for girls to 5,000 meters despite the vote by the WCCCA. The WIAA Board of Control voted to implement the 5,000-meter course for sectionals and state in May without sending the proposal to the coaches' association and to area meetings as is the usual practice.
"The WIAA, instead of going with what the coaches' association wanted, got afraid of the pending lawsuit," Hirsbrunner said of the complaint that was filed. "It was a bogus lawsuit. I think it will be a bad investment. I don't think there will be a lot of girls jumping at the chance to run farther. It would be like in basketball raising the height of the basket or raising the height of the hurdles in track and field. Some of the smaller schools are already struggling with numbers."
Wisconsin was one of eight states that required girls to run a shorter course than boys for cross country before the rule change.
WIAA executive director Dave Anderson said in a letter dated May 8 to member schools, "WIAA counsel has advised that this is a complaint in which the WIAA is not likely to prevail," and that "the OCR advised that increasing the girls competition distance to 5,000 meters would resolve the complaint."
Darlington cross country coach Arnie Miehe, who is in his 33rd year coaching for the Redbirds, opposes the switch from 4,000 to 5,000 meters.
"I was not in favor of the 5,000," Miehe said. "I didn't find out until one week before the WIAA Board of Control meeting. I think it will hurt the numbers. That was a surprise. I was very disappointed in how the WIAA handled that."
The WCCCA had had two votes on the issue in five years. In 2010, coaches voted 56 percent to 44 percent to lengthen the girls race, but no action was taken by the WIAA to push a potential rule change. Last year, the vote went 51-49 against lengthening the distance.
Darlington has 25 girls out for cross country this fall, which is down six runners from last year.
"There are some girls where 4,000 meters is a stretch," Miehe said. "For the elite runners it's not as much of a challenge."
Miehe said in the Title IX law, there is a provision that allows various distances for boys and girls athletes for cross country distances, and in track the hurdles are different sizes for both boys and girls. In track, boys run the 110-meter high hurdles and girls run the 100 hurdles.
"In every Division I college, the men run further than the women, and in the world championships the men run further than the women," Miehe said. "If that was discriminatory the civil rights groups would be all over that."
Girls have run a 4,000-meter course since 1993 and prior to that they ran 3,200 meters. Monroe will have its girls ease into the 5,000-meter course. The Bruess Invitational at Twining Park today will include a 4,000-meter course for girls and the Darlington Invitational Saturday will remain at 4,000. However, if teams and individuals want to compete for state spots, Hirsbrunner said they will have to make the inevitable switch to 5,000.
"You don't have to run 5,000 during the season," Hirsbrunner said of the rule that is only mandatory during the sectional and state meets. "If you don't run 5,000 you will probably have another parent file a lawsuit saying, 'Why is my kid running shorter distances?'"
Hirsbrunner said to combat the longer course, girls' cross country practices would increase the distances they run and the intervals.
"They will mimic what the guys are doing," he said.
The WIAA wasn't sold on the notion that participation in girls' cross country would dwindle. They pointed to data in Nebraska, which implemented the 5,000-meter course for girls last year, and participation numbers jumped from 2,080 in 2012 to 2,197 last fall.
Numbers in Albany have dropped. The Albany girls cross country team has five girls, which is down from seven last year. Albany coach Tony Brewer opposed lengthening the course for girls.
"When you are talking about equality, the 4K and 5K running times for girls and boys was about right," he said. "I think we had it about right before. I knew it was eventually going to happen. It was the wrong way to go about it."
Brewer doesn't doubt that many girls on the team can run a 5K, but he said the extra time on the course, which will add two to six minutes to times, isn't in the best interest of the athletes.
"It's not a matter of running a 5K," Brewer said. "It's can you race a 5K. In our school girls view the 4K as long distance, and now they are thinking about the 5K and thinking, 'Holy cow.' It's more having them mentally ready as long as they did a lot of work in the summer. We will probably have longer intervals."
The federal Office of Civil Rights received a complaint April 7 claiming Title IX gender discrimination since Wisconsin doesn't allow girls to run the same 5,000-meter cross country course boys are expected to finish. The Office of Civil Rights received complaints from several schools claiming gender discrimination since girls were running a 4,000-meter race instead of a 5,000 meters.
When the issue of expanding the girls course to 5,000 meters came up last year, the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association rejected the plan and agreed to table the issue for three years. Monroe Athletic Director and cross country coach Dave Hirsbrunner said the WIAA caved to the pressure of a potential lawsuit and switched the course for girls to 5,000 meters despite the vote by the WCCCA. The WIAA Board of Control voted to implement the 5,000-meter course for sectionals and state in May without sending the proposal to the coaches' association and to area meetings as is the usual practice.
"The WIAA, instead of going with what the coaches' association wanted, got afraid of the pending lawsuit," Hirsbrunner said of the complaint that was filed. "It was a bogus lawsuit. I think it will be a bad investment. I don't think there will be a lot of girls jumping at the chance to run farther. It would be like in basketball raising the height of the basket or raising the height of the hurdles in track and field. Some of the smaller schools are already struggling with numbers."
Wisconsin was one of eight states that required girls to run a shorter course than boys for cross country before the rule change.
WIAA executive director Dave Anderson said in a letter dated May 8 to member schools, "WIAA counsel has advised that this is a complaint in which the WIAA is not likely to prevail," and that "the OCR advised that increasing the girls competition distance to 5,000 meters would resolve the complaint."
Darlington cross country coach Arnie Miehe, who is in his 33rd year coaching for the Redbirds, opposes the switch from 4,000 to 5,000 meters.
"I was not in favor of the 5,000," Miehe said. "I didn't find out until one week before the WIAA Board of Control meeting. I think it will hurt the numbers. That was a surprise. I was very disappointed in how the WIAA handled that."
The WCCCA had had two votes on the issue in five years. In 2010, coaches voted 56 percent to 44 percent to lengthen the girls race, but no action was taken by the WIAA to push a potential rule change. Last year, the vote went 51-49 against lengthening the distance.
Darlington has 25 girls out for cross country this fall, which is down six runners from last year.
"There are some girls where 4,000 meters is a stretch," Miehe said. "For the elite runners it's not as much of a challenge."
Miehe said in the Title IX law, there is a provision that allows various distances for boys and girls athletes for cross country distances, and in track the hurdles are different sizes for both boys and girls. In track, boys run the 110-meter high hurdles and girls run the 100 hurdles.
"In every Division I college, the men run further than the women, and in the world championships the men run further than the women," Miehe said. "If that was discriminatory the civil rights groups would be all over that."
Girls have run a 4,000-meter course since 1993 and prior to that they ran 3,200 meters. Monroe will have its girls ease into the 5,000-meter course. The Bruess Invitational at Twining Park today will include a 4,000-meter course for girls and the Darlington Invitational Saturday will remain at 4,000. However, if teams and individuals want to compete for state spots, Hirsbrunner said they will have to make the inevitable switch to 5,000.
"You don't have to run 5,000 during the season," Hirsbrunner said of the rule that is only mandatory during the sectional and state meets. "If you don't run 5,000 you will probably have another parent file a lawsuit saying, 'Why is my kid running shorter distances?'"
Hirsbrunner said to combat the longer course, girls' cross country practices would increase the distances they run and the intervals.
"They will mimic what the guys are doing," he said.
The WIAA wasn't sold on the notion that participation in girls' cross country would dwindle. They pointed to data in Nebraska, which implemented the 5,000-meter course for girls last year, and participation numbers jumped from 2,080 in 2012 to 2,197 last fall.
Numbers in Albany have dropped. The Albany girls cross country team has five girls, which is down from seven last year. Albany coach Tony Brewer opposed lengthening the course for girls.
"When you are talking about equality, the 4K and 5K running times for girls and boys was about right," he said. "I think we had it about right before. I knew it was eventually going to happen. It was the wrong way to go about it."
Brewer doesn't doubt that many girls on the team can run a 5K, but he said the extra time on the course, which will add two to six minutes to times, isn't in the best interest of the athletes.
"It's not a matter of running a 5K," Brewer said. "It's can you race a 5K. In our school girls view the 4K as long distance, and now they are thinking about the 5K and thinking, 'Holy cow.' It's more having them mentally ready as long as they did a lot of work in the summer. We will probably have longer intervals."
