City Section Rejects Plan for State Qualifying Meet

A proposal to stage a special City Section qualifying meet that would enable top City runners to compete in the state cross-country championships was voted down, 6-1, in a City rules committee meeting Thursday morning.

Rules committee chairman Don Thomas said the proposal was rejected because of scheduling difficulties.

“If the qualifying meet were held on Nov. 21 as the proposal stated, the kids would have to run four races in a little over a week,” Thomas said. “They would run a dual meet on Wednesday or Thursday, the qualifying meet on Saturday, the league finals on the following Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday and then the state championships on Saturday.

“The committee felt that was asking too much of the kids.”

The City championships are scheduled for Dec. 12, too late to act as a qualifying meet for the state championships, which will be held Nov. 28 in Fresno. Without a qualifying meet, the City would be the only one of 10 sections statewide not to compete in the state championships, which are being held for the first time.

Ron Lawson, father of Granada Hills High runner Craig Lawson and Kennedy High runner Sheri Lawson, presented the proposal but was not surprised with the ruling.

“We knew the cards were stacked against us,” Lawson said. “I didn’t see one smiling face when I entered that room. Everybody was very cold. I felt like their minds were already made up.”

Lawson said he will appeal the decision today to Dick Browning, an L.A. Unified School District administrator.

If Browning overrules the decision, City representative Gloria Webster would present the proposal to the California Interscholastic Federation at its executive meeting in Palm Springs today.

A City coaches’ panel is studying the feasibility of a qualifying meet for next season.