*This article has been revised as of 7:30pm, 3/22*
The NJSIAA released their 2021 outdoor track and field regulations on Wednesday and it included an adjusted format for advancement to the Meet of Champions for Non-Public A and B.
Updated Outdoor 2021 Regulations Packet
Read: Full Highlights of 2021 Regs
After feedback and brainstorming NJSIAA Assistant Director Bill Bruno released a revised format on Monday that will see a slightly more traditional Group Championship Meet for Non-Publics take place. Non-Public A and Non-Public B will compete as Group Championships rather than by North and South Sectionals.
Revised Format From The NJSIAA
- We will have the North and South, A & B, Boys & Girls compete "head to head" like a "normal" group meet. A Non-Public A and Non-Public B Championship rather than by Sectional.
- We will score the group meet first, award medals to the top 6 in each event. The top THREE individuals in each event for each Group will auto advance just like the Public locations. Then we go to the nine individual wild cards from the location merge. For relays it is the top TWO and six wild cards.
- We will crown 4 Group Team Champions (Non-Public A Boys, Non-Public A Girls, Non-Public B Boys, Non-Public B Girls.
- We will then score the Sectional meet based on the performance from the Group meet.
- We will award medals to the top 6 scorers in each event from the pulled sectional results.
- We will crown 8 Sectional Team Champions based on those results.
Originally the format was in the reverse, we were going to see North and South A and B Sections compete to move on and a merge would decide the overall Non-Public A and B State Champions.
Note at the original posting of this article it was shared that the top six would advance, that has been corrected to the top three auto advancing from each Group. Then we go to wildcards at based off the merge.
This revised Group Championship first format released today is more in tune with how the Public Schools will advance at their own Group Championship locations that same weekend. Public Schools will be deciding their Sectional Champions the weekend prior.
The reason this Non-Public adjustment was needed in the first place is because they were unable to find week day host sites due to a mix of reasons such as COVID-19 restrictions, field scheduling conflicts, and a general lack of interest for hosting according to the NJSIAA.
Bruno also noted that this is a one year pilot program and will be discussed at the end of year Track and Field Committee meeting.