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The Effect Of Wind On Performances Thursday, April 29, 2010 at the Fond du Lac County Meet held at Fond du Lac High School. Results |
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Did you notice something different at the State Meet last year? As Bria Halama [Above left, Independence-Gilmanton, D3] completed her preliminary 400m heat [56.86] she passed an instrument that measures the speed of the wind. This enables State Records to be accepted by the NFHS. Amberly Weiglein of Winnebago Lutheran Academy is pictured winning the 100m dash at the Fond du lac County meet held at Fond du Lac High School on Thursday, April 29. Weiglein ran into a strong wind which hampered all times at the meet. Often when new 'fast' times are published coaches and fans ask 'what were the wind conditions like?' Following the 2008 State Meet Mike Kennedy the prep editor of Track and Field News eMailed the Honor Roll asking if the wind was measured during events at the State Meet. At the 2009 State Meet a wind measuring device was set up on the straightaway. See how events were recorded prior to 2009 and in 2009: |
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| Event 30 Girls 100 Meter Dash Division 2 2008 ======================================== Name Year School Prelims H# ======================================== 1 Tasha Allen 11 Milwaukee North 12.21q 1s |
Wind is measured by a wind guage that is set within 2m of the track approx. 4 ft from the ground. The guage measures the speed of the wind in meters per second in the direction the event is run, on the straightaway. The reading is then rounded up to the next higher tenth of a meter per second in a positive direction.
For example if the wind guage reads 2.01 then that means that the wind is a 2.01 m/s tailwind and will be rounded to 2.1 m/s. The fact that the wind speed is greater than 2.0 doesn't mean that the event doesn't count, but it does mean that no times can be recorded as NATIONAL records. A negative reading would be a headwind. The NFHS* does not accept records when the wind is greater than 2.0 m/sec. |
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Girls 100 Meter Dash Division 1 2009 [A STATE RECORD] ===================================== Name Year School Seed Prelims Wind H# ===================================== Preliminaries 1 Tasha Allen 12 Milw North 11.92 * 11.76q 1.2 2 . |
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Distance runners preparing to start their race at the Fond du Lac County Meet. At least they would have the wind at their backs during part of the race. |
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Marya Haegler [above left] hands off to Winnebago Lutheran Academy teammate Anna Steil. Above center and right: Haegler leans into the strong wind as she runs in the 1600m and 3200m races. She won both races. Below: Amberly Weiglein long jumps. Most track runways are set up so that athletes can jump with the wind at their backs. The WIAA Coaches Advisory did discuss the use of wind gauges but because few (if any) schools actually own a wind gauge they did not feel it was necessary to develop language in regards to the wind and State Meet Records. The National Federation of High Schools does not accept Honor Roll or National Record submissions when the wind reading is above 4.473 mph which is 2 meters/second. |
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