A much-debated and anxiety-ridden change in the cross country race distance for Kansas girls has passed its first test, but at least one state activities association official says more time is needed to fully determine the benefits of the switch.
Kansas State High School Activities Association executive director Gary Musselman announced on June 15, 2015 that the cross country distance for Kansas girls championship events would change to 5K, or 3.1 miles, effective the 2015 season.
At the time, the championship distance in Kansas was 4K, or about 2.5 miles.
In 2014, Kansas was one of only seven states still running less than 5K at its state championships. In about a two-month stretch in mid-2015, four states switched to 5K: Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas and South Dakota.
During the 2015 season, Oklahoma, North Dakota and most of Texas were the last remaining states not running 5K at their state championship. This year, however, those three states are making the move to 5K, meaning every state is now a 5K state for girls cross country.
In Kansas, Musselman's announcement included notice that there had been increasing support to change the distance in surveys of coaches and athletic directors. In October, 2014, KSHSAA had also received a letter from the U.S. Office of Civil Rights, notifying the state's activities association of a complaint filed, supposedly by a female athlete asking that the distance be increased to 5K.
Surveys by Kansas coaches had indicated support by coaches in upper divisions, mostly 4A through 6A. Coaches at smaller schools expressed concerns about being able to recruit girls to run a half-mile more, indicating that many girls played multiple sports in the fall.
Those concerns appear to be for naught. The participation numbers for fall, 2015 show that there were 3,044 Kansas girls who participated in cross country, an increase of 54 over 2014 (2,990).
According to data from the National Federal of High Schools, it is the first time ever that Kansas girls' participation numbers have topped 3,000 in cross country. Girls have been running cross country in Kansas since 1977.
"Obviously, we are pleased anytime our numbers increase in any of our activities," said Fran Martin, KSHSAA administrator for cross country. "I know there were people concerned what would happen if the distance increased, particularly small schools and whether they would be able to field a team.
"For the most part, our coaches and parents were on board. After the decision was made, we didn't get a lot of negative feedback."
In the three lower divisions, participation numbers dropped by eight athletes. Class 1A's numbers remained steady (145 runners at 47 schools both years); Class 2A increased from 303 to 305; and Class 3A dropped from 351 to 341.
Class 4A saw the biggest year-to-year increase, from 630 girls in 2014 to 739 in 2015. By contrast, the biggest drop was in Class 5A, where the division went from 661 girls in 2014 to 570 in 2015. Some of that, though, might be explained by Class 5A's tendency to change drastically year-to-year based on school enrollment counts.
In Class 6A, participation increased from 900 girls in 2014, to 944 in 2015.
"What will be interesting to see is what happens in year two, whether we have another increase, or maybe a sharp dropoff," Martin said.
"In the overall picture and for the future of cross country in Kansas, I believe this is good for our sport," Martin added. "I don't think we'll see a huge dropoff. Our Kansas coaches have done what Kansas typically does and that is they adjusted and coached their kids to run 5K. Their attitude has been that they are going to do what is best for their kids."
SIDEBAR: College coaches say 5K benefits Kansas girls
Here are the opinions of coaches at some Kansas colleges about last year's change by the state of Kansas to let girls run 5K in cross country:
RYUN GODFREY, KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
"I believe moving to the 5K distance has been helpful for college coaches, however projecting a 4K performance to a 5K has been relatively easy in the past. I think the greater benefit has been for the high school athlete and the college athlete. The high school athlete can make those comparisons between high school and college easier and this provides good direction as to what level (Division I, II, III or NAIA) is their best fit.
"I also think it will prove valuable for the incoming (college) freshmen; knowing they have 'been there' and 'done that' is an advantage. Many of our races during the season are 5K and championship races are 6K. It's simply a better transition now.
"Finally, the national high school races are 5K and have been for as long as I remember, so, why not have that experience leading up to the national races, as long as we are not over-racing during the season."
RUSS JEWETT, PITTSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY
"We race 6K at our championship level (NCAA Division II). The physical and psychological demands of the 6K are much closer to those of the 5K than the 4K, so I get a better sense of how an athlete will transition to the collegiate 6K race if I can see them in 5K races in high school.
"It is a better test of true physical endurance and mental toughness. It will better reward the athletes who work hard, and that is a good thing to teach and reward. In addition, the 5K distance is more significantly different from the 3200m race on the track than is the 4K cross country distance, and that helps distinguish the sport of cross country from the sport of track.
"It is my understanding that some (high school) coaches are apprehensive about the challenges that may occur in recruiting or retaining girls because of the 5K race distance. I think it is worth considering having one, two or a few of the early season meets at 3200m or 4K distance to allow for a gradual psychological and physical adaptation to 5K."
KIRK HUNTER, WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY
"We run more and more 6K distances in cross, so the girls that come in are able to adapt easier based on this. Also, I recruit all over the world, and most states and countries don't think that 5K is a problem, so having Kansas girls do this only keeps them in line with everyone else in the world.
"It has been good for me to have experienced girls on our team. The more you run a distance, the better you learn how to race the distance.
"I personally loved the 2 mile when I ran it in high school, but what would the 5K have done for me if I had it back then? Probably made me adapt easier to college 8K/10K? Girls should be treated no different than guys; they can handle it.
"I understand that some girls may not go out because of the extra distance, but that same thing could happen to the guys. I want to treat all sexes equally, so the girls will adapt, as is seen by the increase in numbers."