The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) has announced that the three shot put athletes who faced being barred from a sectional tournament because of a coach’s mistake will be allowed to compete.
The MSHSL issued a statement Thursday evening saying that the trio from Cambridge-Isanti High School will be permitted to compete in the Section 7AAA tournament following a review by the league.
The league had been asked to conduct a review by the school, after one of its coaches “unintentionally failed” to enter any student athletes into the shot put event.
Senior Evelyn Wiltrout, junior Erin Baker, and another sophomore competitor were told they could not compete due to the mistake, which their parents described as a “clerical error” in their complaint to the MSHSL, which responded by saying it had to make an effort to maintain “uniformity and consistent application of the entry process and Rules and Policies.”
But in its statement Thursday, the MSHSL said it would allow the trio to compete “given the unique circumstances.”
“After conducting a thorough review, the League has determined that, given the unique circumstances, participation by the omitted students would not impact the competitive integrity or effective management of the section meet,” it said.
“Therefore, the student-athletes will be allowed to compete in the section meet.”
Here’s the full statement:
This week, thousands of Minnesota high school athletes were registered by their coaches to participate in the section track meets held throughout Minnesota. To promote and preserve competitive integrity and ensure the efficient and effective management of the meet, rosters were required to be finalized by a deadline established by the section. In Section 7AAA, that deadline was noon on Tuesday with seedings completed Tuesday afternoon. Coaches make every effort to ensure that rosters are correct and final as they cannot be changed after the deadline. Approximately 30,000 entries were properly submitted by track and field coaches throughout Minnesota.
One coach unintentionally failed to enter any student-athletes into the shot-put event. This failure to enter student-athletes into the event was not a clerical error. The coach did not discover the omission until after seeding was complete. The member school requested the League review the situation. After conducting a thorough review, the League has determined that, given the unique circumstances, participation by the omitted students would not impact the competitive integrity or effective management of the section meet. Therefore, the student-athletes will be allowed to compete in the section meet.
The roster registration process and deadline are essential for the effective functioning of post-season competition. It has proven highly effective and will continue to be enforced.
