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For North/South State Championships use the new adjusted qualifying times for the 2020 season (attached). To qualify, the times must have been swum this season. The events that were adjusted were the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free relays. This was done for Class I and Class II. The individual events were calculated by looking at the 24th place time from North and South Championships 2019. These events were chosen because of the higher number of athletes qualifying for these events. The goal was to bring the number of participants under 200 for each Class.
The Class I and Class II North/South Championships would need to be held on different days for the 2020 season. This would keep the number of participants under the guidelines set for the hosting facilities due to Covid-19. If the number of participants is still too high with the new standards, the following process would be used to lower the number of swimmers.
- The swimmers that are relay only alternates would be scratched first, unless needed to replace swimmers that can not attend due to illness.
- Eliminate the slowest qualifying swimmers from the individual event with the most number of swimmers. This is done until you reach the desired number, or you reach the same number of swimmers as the next largest event.
- At this point you alternate eliminating swimmers in the largest events until the number of desired swimmers is reached.
To advance to the State Championships, the top 6 times from north, the top 6 times from the south, plus the next 4 fastest times overall for individual events. (Total of 16) For the 2020 season, only 8 relays will advance. The top 3 relay finishers from the north, top 3 from the south, and the next 2 fastest overall times will advance. A list of qualifiers will be identified by the MHSAA and posted on the MHSAA website.
The Class I and Class II State Championships will also need to be held on different days. The meets would be held in the Timed Finals format to help reduce the exposure of the athletes, officials, and spectators. This will also allow for a later start time. The start time will also allow most schools to drive the morning of the State Championship if desired. NFHS Rules will apply to all events.
