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IHSA trying to keep CPS runners out of state championship

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More than a dozen runners and the boys team from St. Viator High School will be allowed to compete at the cross-country state finals this weekend after initially being bumped in favor of Chicago Public Schools students prevented from running because of the Chicago Teachers Union strike.

The Illinois High School Association announced Monday night that the runners — eight boys and five girls competing as individuals, and the St. Viator team in Arlington Heights — have been added to the field to compete at the IHSA Cross Country State Championship at Detweiller Park in Peoria on Saturday.

The runners had been displaced by CPS students allowed by a court order to compete in last weekend’s sectionals even though they missed the regional races due to the longest Chicago teachers strike in decades. […]

“After being granted an exemption to run by the courts, the CPS runners and team earned their places in the State Meet,” IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said in a news release. “However, given that they were not initially eligible to compete per IHSA rules, it seemed like a fair gesture to reward the individuals and team who lost their qualifier spots to them. We believe this is a fair recourse given the unique circumstances.”

* Tuesday…

Hours after saying Chicago Public Schools runners “earned their places” at the state finals after a judicial intervention allowed them to run in qualifying races, the Illinois High School Association filed a legal appeal that could cause those runners to be removed from the meet.

In a filing late Monday, the IHSA asked the Illinois Appellate Court to reverse a temporary restraining order that allowed CPS runners to compete at last weekend’s sectional meets. The IHSA had initially barred the athletes because the teachers strike forced them to miss an earlier set of regional races that were the first step in cross-country’s postseason.

IHSA policy says athletes whose districts are on strike cannot compete, though an exception is made when strikes begin after the start of the postseason. Cook County Judge Neil Cohen called that an arbitrary distinction in ruling that the CPS runners could compete in sectionals. […]

While the court’s timetable is unclear, [IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson] said in an interview that if the organization wins its challenge before Saturday’s state finals, it might bar the CPS runners from participating.

* Wednesday…

A former Olympian who still holds the fastest time in state cross-country history pleaded with the Illinois High School Association on Wednesday to allow Chicago Public Schools runners to compete in the state meet.

“(Don’t) be hamstrung by rules and laws and bylaws, but use some common sense, use some compassion and, most of all, think about what’s in the best interest of the innocent student-athletes involved here,” said Craig Virgin, who set the record running for Lebanon High School in 1972 and went on to make three Olympic teams. […]

As for the IHSA’s concern about setting a rule-breaking precedent, [Kevin Sterling, an attorney representing CPS runners] said the organization appears to be flexible when high-profile sports are involved.

He cited the IHSA board’s decision to allow the powerhouse football team from Simeon Career Academy to compete in the postseason even though the strike didn’t allow it to play eight games, as required by the organization’s rules.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:08 am

Comments

The fact that they changed the rules for football due to the strike and then are doing this to runners is beyond silly but is par for the course for the IHSA.

Comment by OurMagician Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:12 am
I have a feeling if the roles of CPS and Viator were reversed this would be a non issue and would have been fixed last week. Embarrassing on IHSA.

Comment by Almost the weekend Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:14 am
IHSA: Training ground for future NCAA staff and administrators.

Comment by Give Me A Break Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:18 am
I’m trying to wrap my head around what IHSA is doing. Are they worried they will be making it easier for teachers to strike in the future? Do they dislike Chicago cross country runners? Do they have attorneys that are bored and needed something to do? It is just such a silly place to draw a line in the sand.

Comment by Montrose Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:22 am
Does anyone know what the rationale or rule for allowing the football (and I think volleyball) teams to compete is that does not allow for the cross country teams? I’ve really been trying to figure this out.

Comment by BigLou Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:25 am
Having actually run in the state cross country meet, twice, at Detweiler Park, I guarantee that no one will notice 15 more runners on the course,

What an absurd hill to die on for the IHSA.

Comment by JoeMaddon Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:39 am
What am I missing? St. Viator is a private school in a suburb.

Comment by Pick a Name Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:39 am
It’s cross country, adding more runners doesn’t require anyone currently in the field to be removed. The runners who complete the course with the best times win. They can get 40,000 runners to complete the Chicago Marathon, but they can’t find room for a few dozen kids who would have otherwise qualified if not for the strike?

Try harder IHSA.

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:42 am
=The fact that they changed the rules for football due to the strike and then are doing this to runners is beyond silly but is par for the course for the IHSA.=

This is spot on. Their inconsistency (from the perspective a school administrator and district IHSA Official Representative) is baffling.

Many schools have been disqualified over the years due to strikes. There should be no exceptions if that is the rule. It is, in my opinion, a dumb rule but if you have it be consistent.

The backroom stuff at the IHSA would make the ILGA and Chicago City Council look ethical by comparison.

Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:49 am
I’m in favor of making an exception in this very odd year to allow the extra participants, without excluding the previous qualifiers. They qualified under the rules in place.

On the football exception, I believe (may be wrong and would welcome being corrected) that in basketball and in football, CPS has some automatic seeds in the state tournaments, meaning they qualify among themselves for a certain number of seeds that are then qualified into the State tournament.

Comment by A guy Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:53 am
– What am I missing? St. Viator is a private school in a suburb. –

St. Viator got 6th place at the Sectional and top 5 advance to state. I believe they’re eliminating Mather (a CPS school) that got 4th place, making way for St. Viator to get in.

47th Ward and JoeMadden are right. A few more runners will have no negative impact. When I ran high school cross country in IL the state meet was the thing I most looked forward to every year. I’d say the IHSA has lost their mind, but the ship sailed on that long ago.

Comment by former runner Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:55 am
A guy…..That’s what used to be, but that changed at least 10 years ago. CPS schools no longer receive automatic qualifiers into the state tournament. They have to compete with every other school in Illinois to get to the state tournament. Sometimes that means you have zero CPS schools in the state tournament; sometimes it means you have more than one.

Comment by ajjacksson Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:01 am
IHSA should have embraced the court order saying we have our rules unless the court say otherwise. The appeal is excessive.

Comment by Eyeball Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:04 am
For those missing the point - the IHSA needs to quash a terrible opinion by a lackluster judge that suggests the courts have the ability to override IHSA policy for equitable reasons. That’s just wrong legally and sets a terrible precedent for the IHSA.

Comment by anon Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:07 am
The association can add runners after “round one,” but it cannot add football teams after “round one.” Football and cross-country is a little more like apples and oranges; the comparison is not strictly valid.

Comment by ajjacksson Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:08 am
ANON, Judge Neil Cohen is an excellent, well qualified and respected jurist. Hei is not lackluster just because you disagree with his opinion. His opinion sets no legal precedent for any future disputes. It is not a ruling of an appellate court and has no precedential value.

Comment by anonymouse Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:11 am
Also keep in mind, the CPS runners had not competed in the first round of the state tournament (regionals). The judge essentially granted them a pass through that stage. In football, the strike ended before the first round of playoffs. IHSA did not advance a team that had not played a game nor did the IHSA waive the requirement for a number of wins.

Comment by anon Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:16 am
With all due respect, anonymouse, Judge Cohen is lackluster for reasons beyond this opinion. Other judges may not be bound by his ruling but they might feel compelled to follow it. That’s the whole point of an appeal, to eradicate bad legal decisions by circuit court judges.

Comment by Anon Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:18 am
This was a stupid fight by IHSA to take on but I’m glad they did. Now maybe somehow the state or some governing body can step in moving forward and get control of the IHSA. It’s a bureaucratic machine that benefits mostly insiders with over payed jobs with little concern for the student athletes.

Comment by Long Time R Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:20 am
Let me start with I think it is ok that they get to run.

However, I can see the IHSA’s viewpoint on this.

Does this become the standard for strikes in that sport reguardless of the number of schools involved? It would kind of have to become the stanadard.

If you say “You can skip the regionals and go right to the next level of competition” does this become the standard for other sports/activities?

Do you allow a skip of sectionals as well depending on the sport and allow a team to go right to state if it is a lage field tournament or mass competition?

The challenge is ‘this one time’ then is going to be the example entities are going to litigate against going forward.

Also a reminder that when the courts got involved in who could compete at the state wrestiling finals in 1995 they ended up canceling the whole thing.

Comment by OneMan Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:21 am
This is so absurd. The CPS kids qualified at the harder sectional level. It’s not like they are asking for direct slots in the race without qualifying. Just let them run.

Comment by Another former runner Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:26 am
A rule that says that students at schools that are on strike should be disqualified seems to particularly benefit private high schools, the bulk of which are parochial,

Comment by Thomas Paine Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:29 am
- Pick a Name - Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 10:39 am:

What am I missing? St. Viator is a private school in a suburb.

I was thinking the same thing as I read this piece.

As Pick a Name said: “Can anyone out there explain this. What is it that I do not understand

Comment by OpentoDiscussion Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:38 am
== It’s not like they are asking for direct slots in the race without qualifying.==

Actually that’s exactly what they were asking for last week, when they were asking to be slotted into the sectional race.

Comment by fs Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:39 am
- Thomas Paine - Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:29 am:

A rule that says that students at schools that are on strike should be disqualified seems to particularly benefit private high schools, the bulk of which are parochial,

True, but so what? Please explain the relevance of your comment those schools that did not go on strike.

Comment by OpentoDiscussion Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:41 am
It’s cross country - there’s room. The CPS kids should show up and run regardless of the ruling.

Comment by Robert the Bruce Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:41 am
If you want to see the rules in general of the IHSA

https://www.ihsa.org/AbouttheIHSA/ConstitutionBylawsPolicies.aspx

If you want to see the relevant part about strikes (see section 6)

https://www.ihsa.org/documents/forms/current/IHSA_Policies.pdf

It really comes down to the requirement for attendance before an event and if a school is on strike and 51% of students are not attending than it isn’t ‘in session’ from the state board of ed definition that the IHSA uses.

Comment by OneMan Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:51 am
St Viator is being included because they would have made it to State if the CPS schools had been DQed as the IHSA intended. They missed State by one spot due to a CPS school being allowed back in by the court.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:55 am
The ihsa once cancelled the state wrestling tournament rather than let a court say they were arbitrary.

Comment by Rutro Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 11:55 am
Ruto,
1995 if I recall correctly. Part of the issue that time was they were enjoined from having it for a period of time and then several other schools were accused of having been in too many competitions and they couldn’t resolve the complaints in time.

Comment by OneMan Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 12:04 pm
Anon, Judge Neil Cohen is one of the more impressive legal minds in Illinois. Why does he get so many high profile cases? Because he’s fair and intelligent. You’re knocking him just because you don’t like his decision in this IHSA case? And just to nitpick further here, appeals courts do not overturn “bad legal decisions.” Their purpose is to review possible errors at the trial court. Judges follow the law, not what may be good or bad, especially since what is good or bad may be completely different to different people. See, for example, Roe v. Wade, Citizens United. Are those good or bad decisions? Depends on your point of view.

Comment by Steve Rogers Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 12:20 pm
The legislature needs to address this. Teachers get their back pay and the district gets their work. Kids, in many instances have spent years working for opportunities for sports, academic competitions, and performing arts lose those opportunities and cannot ever get them back because the adults are arguing. Extra Curricular activities need to proceed during Strikes.

A lot of these kids will have scholarship slots based upon how far they advance against better competition in the State Series. I can’t of anything more unfair than taking opportunities from kids they can never get back because the adults are arguing.

Comment by the Patriot Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 12:23 pm
the Patriot— It would also have to be addressed in collective bargaining. The coaches and advisors for the students are mostly teachers. Provisions would have to be made to allow them on school property, temporarily exempt them from picketing, etc.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 12:30 pm
St. Viator failed to qualify for state because it was beaten by a CPS team that was added to the sectional. That is why they are part of this conversation.

=What am I missing? St. Viator is a private school in a suburb.

I was thinking the same thing as I read this piece.

As Pick a Name said: “Can anyone out there explain this. What is it that I do not understand=

Comment by Albany Park Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 1:09 pm
Thanks to those who pointed out that St. Viator moved up because of a CPS school being disqualifed.

Makes sense.

Comment by Pick a Name Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 1:12 pm
== Extra Curricular activities need to proceed during Strikes. ==

Much easier said than done.

I will use two different districticts as examples. The district I went to HS in Cook County (205) and the district I live (Kendall 308, Oswego).

So thanks to a desegration plan (not a complaint) in 205 you did not nessesarily attend the HS closest to you so there was significant busing that happened in the district to make that happen there were/are students that live more than 6 miles away from the HS they attend. The district has a 86.2% low income rate. They used to have an ‘activity bus’ that would take you near (but not that near) home when practice/activities were over. I susposed they could run that before the activities as well, but that would obviously be an additional expense.

Now 308, which geographically is surprisingly large, there are students (or will be as development fills in) that will be 9.5 miles from the HS they attend. Same transportation problem.

Comment by OneMan Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 1:35 pm
Steve - I am familiar with Judge Cohen and disagree with your opinion. I’m sorry if that bothers you. I’m not certain what you mean about him getting “high profile” cases, since the case assignment is randomized. Are you suggesting that the court fixes the random assignment of cases?

As for the role of appellate courts, you are flat wrong. Bad legal decisions are ones without legal justification or authority, like Cohen’s IHSA ruling. Other cases may be disagreeable on result or reasoning, but the IHSA case is explicitly bad because it is lacking justification.

Comment by anon Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 1:49 pm
anon. Please. The IHSA messed up here by arbitrarily favoring one sport (football) over another (cross country). Cohen pointed out that problem and fixed it. How is that “bad?”

On that point, show me the statute or the Black’s Law Dictionary definition of appellate court jurisdiction where it says they fix “bad” decisions.

Comment by Steve Rogers Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 3:08 pm
Steve, please don’t be so pedantic. The existence of the appellate court is to review decisions and correct bad (e.g. legally erroneous) decisions. Just stop.

As for the IHSA, as I and others pointed out above, IHSA did not favor one sport over another, it made practical decisions that were quite different. What the cross country runners requested was to bypass an entire round of playoffs, as if they had succeeded in a race they did not run.

Comment by anon Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 3:29 pm
In 1995 the Cook County Circuit Court, Appellate Court and Illinois Supreme Court ruled the IHSA had acted arbitrarily in disqualifying Mt. Carmel. So they canceled the tourament rather than following the law. Mt. Carmel also happened to be the #1 team in the Country. The IHSA is anti Chicago and anti Catholic league.

Comment by Rod Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 3:48 pm
I agree with Anon. You’ve got a goofy Cook County judge, and there are lots of them, substituting their opinion for the rules. The rules are if you can’t compete if your district is on strike. Unfortunate, but a rule is a rule. The kids should not be allowed to run. Maybe the adults should care about all of the consequences to the kids when they go on strike.

Comment by Tim Thursday, Nov 7, 19 @ 4:43 pm