For all the board regulars, this topic gets brought up every year around this time-the meaning of Track & Field times, the distinction between "fast" and "quick", etc....Without rehashing every little nuance that can come up I do want to point out something for any newcomers to the board that might not know specifics about the reporting of Track times-if a Track & Field time is listed only to the "tenths" spot (like a 10.4 in the 100meter dash), that means it was timed by hand. If a Track & field time is listed to the "hundredths" spot (say, a 10.47 in the 100m), then it "should" have been done electronically and can be counted on for greater accuracy. Sometimes coaches will report a hand time to the hundredths and that is not allowable, but obviously no one on these boards knows if that happens when a time is reported to the hundredths. Over the years I have seen coaches who simply suck at hand timing and get wacky results despite honest efforts to do it right, and I have seen coaches that frankly, I question their ethics since I see them constantly submit hand times for kids that FAR EXCEED what the kids end up doing at States with electronic timing.
Not commenting at all about this kid's ACTUAL speed since I have NO IDEA, but for the newbies, a 100m time listed to the tenths place needs to be taken with a HUGE grain of salt. Some of my kids run 11.1 hand times and consistently beat other kids who supposedly run 10.6 hand times.
As for this specific young man-welcome aboard! The staff must have been impressed if he committed all the way back in June.
