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Northville parents in conflict with MHSAA over approval to attend NXN

Published by
DyeStat.com   Nov 18th 2015, 8:20pm
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MHSAA bars Northville from running at NXN

 

Parents weigh options, try to keep daughters' dream alive   

 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor


 

The celebration that engulfed the girls from Northville, Mich. and their families after they were announced as the second automatic qualifying team from the Midwest for Nike Cross Nationals has been extinguished by a state association that is refusing to grant persmission for them to compete in Portland.

 

The Michigan High School Athletics Association has told a group of parents that competing at Nike Cross Nationals is a violation of its rules. 

 

Melinda Herrmann, a mother of one of the girls on the team, said Wednesday that the parents are weighing their options but plan to fight for the opportunity that was earned at NXN Midwest. 

 

"We strongly disagree with the MHSAA's interpretation of its own rules," Herrmann said. 

 

The MHSAA's refusal to allow teams to compete at NXN extends back to the beginning of national championship event back in 2004. Over the years, cross country coaches have attempted to chip away and make progress toward being part of the same landscape as 49 other states. 

 

Two years ago, Waterford Mott coach Ryan Robinson and Northville coach Nancy Smith received the MHSAA's approval to allow teams -- competing as clubs not affiliated with schools and without the guidance of the school's paid coaches -- to compete at the NXN regional meet. But those emails came from Mark Uyl, an assistant director who used to oversee cross country. A different assistant director, Cody Inglis, is interpreting the rules now.

 

"We didn't ask for special permission (in 2013)," Robinson said. "We asked for an interpretation of the rule. Those conditions have not changed."

 

Northville, which finished fourth in the MHSAA's Division 1 cross country championships on Nov. 7, sought to compete at regionals with the hopes of becoming Michigan's first representative at NXN, which will be held in Portland, Ore. on Dec. 5. 

 

Per the instructions on a Nike questionaire for the qualifying athletes, Craig Harris, a father acting as the coach in place of Smith, checked with the school's athletic director to make sure their were no compliance or eligibility issues. The athletic director, Bryan Masi, turned to MHSAA request approval. 

 

On Tuesday, the MHSAA informed Masi and Harris that the trip was not allowed.

 

"My daughter (Emma Herrmann) is a senior," Melinda Herrmann said. "She's (participated in) the NXN regional three years. Two years ago, Coach Smith, on behalf of the club asked if it would be alright to compete in the regional meet. The MHSAA said yes. Since 2013, when the provision was granted, there have been no changes to the rules. The MHSAA has done nothing to tell us otherwise, nothing to rescind (its) approval. So there is incredible frustration.

 

"We have the first team to make it out of Michigan from the (Midwest) regional meet. It's the dream of any of these high school runners to (qualify for NXN)."

 

Six of the seven girls who competed at the state meet also competed at the NXN Midwest meet, where, as NXC Running Club, they upset the formchart and achieved an auto berth to the national championships. 

 

Herrmann said the MHSAA takes issue with the fact that the "club" is comprised entirely of athletes from Northville High School. 

 

Herrmann and other parents aren't satisified with the answers they are getting back from the state association. 

 

"Why is it OK for an indivdual like a Grant Fisher or Audrey Belf to go to Foot Locker?" Herrmann said. "The difference is that they are individuals, but why is it OK for one but not a group? (The MHSAA) has no issue with the club going to regionals, so what's the issue? Is it a geography issue? Why do they grant us permission to go to the regional meet but not the national meet? Surely they understand that it's a qualifying meet."

 

Athletes from Michigan schools routinely compete with club affiliations, or unattached, during indoor and outdoor track seasons -- including championship events such as New Balance Nationals Indoor/Outdoor. 

 

"At this point, we have been using logic without success, making our case to the MHSAA," Herrmann said. 

 

The association informed the parents that there is an appeal process but that the next executive committee meeting to decide on the matter would not be held until Dec. 3 -- two days before NXN. 

 

"We feel like this (MHSAA road block) is a tremendous disservice and injustice to our children, who have worked incredibly hard to do what the have," Herrmann said. "To miss a once-in-a-life opportunity like this, why, to what end?

 

Herrmann said the parents are considering their options, including speaking to attorneys about their available options. In the meantime, she is hoping that other member schools in Michigan rally to Northville's cause and apply pressure to the MHSAA. It's the only kind of pressure, Herrmann expects, that will change the MHSAA's stance.

 

By forging ahead and going to NXN, the athletes on the team risk being punished with their eligibility stripped for an entire school year. It leaves the families with a tough decisions. 

 

"We are not  going to leave a stone unturned," Herrmann promised.

 



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