Masters Annual Reports - Rankings Committee, 2005

This year, our rankings committee processed over 25,000 results from over 700 indoor and outdoor track meets.  This reflects a slight increase over 2004.  Rankings were posted on-line throughout the indoor and outdoor track seasons.  This years rankings are now winding down, with the deadline for 2005 outdoor rankings submissions set for January 31, 2006.  We anticipate the publication of the 2005 outdoor track and field rankings in the March 2006 issue of National Masters News.

2) TRENDS
Each year, we have been receiving an increased number of submissions from athletes in the 30-39 age group, indicating a growing interest in the masters program among younger athletes.  This interest includes submissions from open, and in some cases, even elite athletes who want their performances included in the masters rankings lists.  A noteable example is Maurice Green, whose agent submitted his marks to us for the masters rankings this year.

3) DATE OF BIRTH INFO
Our committee has invested a significant amount of time in compiling date of birth data for as many masters athletes as possible.  This data helps us to verify the exact age of an athlete on any given day of competition.  It also helps us to compute age-graded percentages for their performances, which is useful to the masters awards committee.  Our committee made a request this year that USATF provide us with birth dates for all athletes over age 30.  That request was denied.  Instead, the data is being compiled on athlete-by-athlete basis, from individual athlete submission forms.  This tedious approach has added many hours of labor to the task of compiling and maintaining the rankings data base.

4) AWARDS DATA
Once again, customized spread sheets were prepared for the awards committee which helps identify the top track and field athletes in each age group.  These spread sheets were used in evaluating candidates for the BenGay award, and will also be used during the working sessions that determine annual age-group awards winners at the USATF convention in December.

5) NEW RANKINGS SOFTWARE
The rankings committee has drafted a plan to produce a new rankings program.  As mentioned last year, the existing rankings program (written for DOS)  has become incompatible with most contemporary operating systems and needs to be re-written to conform with current home computers.

Our proposal includes a one year software development effort undertaken by Tom Higbie, who currently compiles the racewalk rankings and has extensive data base and interactive software expertise.  The new generation software will be more versatle than the previous version because authorized users will have data entry capabilities on-line.  This approach will enable a small team of rankings assistants to help compile rankings during the season from any location, thus making allowing for greater delegation of the workload. The program development is anticipated to take approximately one year, with a new program up and running for 2007.  A detailed timeline and budget for the new rankings program has been submitted to the Masters Executive Committee.  If approved, work will begin on the new program in January, 2006.

Respectfully submitted by:

Dave Clingan, Rankings Coordinator
Larry Patz, Indoor Rankings & Software

Tom Higbie, Racewalk & Software Development