Would relaxing the wind standards for the 100 and 200 make in change in who qualifies (or doesn't qualify) for the state meet? Photo by Alan Versaw.
There is a proposal before the CHSAA Track and Field Committee tomorrow to allow winds of up to 4.0 mps for state qualifying purposes.
Most of the push for the proposal has come from smaller schools, presumably because a) they compete less often in large stadiums which provide some measure of protection from wind and b) because the most wind-exposed areas of the state tend to be in lesser populated areas.
It has concerned me for a while that we are entertaining a change in the way we do things without looking at whether or not the data indicates a need for such a change. In short, if what we're doing now isn't broken, don't "fix" it. And, if what we're doing now is broken, yes, go ahead and fix it, but know why you're fixing it and have an informed idea of how much of a "fix" is needed.
So, since I'm completely unaware of anyone else taking a close look at the data, I decided to take that close look myself. I'm not done yet, but the first piece of relevant data indicates very strongly that the data needs to be made public before any change decision is contemplated.
What I did was to look at the top 30 2A boys (because 2A schools are smaller schools more likely to be away from the Front Range and located in the more wind-prone regions of the state) from 2015 in both the 100 and 200. I have identified below the top 30 ranked boys in both events, their school, and the number of wind-legal marks they had in the event leading up to state. If they have five or fewer wind-legal marks, I did a little extra digging and turned up whatever other information I could find that seemed relevant to the discussion.
With no further prologue, here is the message of the actual data. Draw your own conclusions. Next up, I will dig into the same data for the 2014 season, since it is widely believed that 2015 was a low-wind spring for Colorado.
Top 30 Ranked 2A Boys - 100 Meter Dash (italicized runners did not compete at state)
| Name | School | Marks | Notes |
| Tullef Rudlong | Lyons | 9 | |
| Cooper Ward | Resurrection | 7 | |
| Christian Graham | Dayspring | 5 | one additional wind-aided time |
| Isaac Swoffer | Cedaredge | 7 | |
| Dakota Murrow | Resurrection | 6 | |
| Trenton Shelton | Meeker | 2 | did not compete after April 4 |
| Matt Mueller | Del Norte | 6 | |
| Kevin Vargas | Ellicott | 3 | competed in four meets in the invitational season |
| Caleb Urwiller | Dayspring | 7 | |
| Shane Finegan | Wiggins | 7 | |
| Alec Reents | Burlington | 4 | one wind-aided 100 time |
| Noah Sarria | Clear Creek | 3 | did not compete after April 21 |
| Bricin Ford | Peyton | 4 | zero wind-aided times |
| Mikeal Ford | Dolores | 9 | |
| Xander Camp | Cedaredge | 4 | injured most of April and early May |
| John Broadhead | Telluride | 3 | one additional wind-aided time |
| Amos Hodges | Telluride | 4 | one additional wind-aided time |
| Ty Grant | Cedaredge | 9 | |
| Bryce Buhr | Crowley County | 5 | also played baseball, no additional wind-aided times |
| Ryan Latta | Cedaredge | 1 | primarily a 400 runner & relays, no addtl wind-aided times |
| Patrick Scoggins | Rangely | 1 | primarily a 400/800 runner, no addtl wind-aided times |
| Trey Walter | Sedgwick County | 3 | also played baseball, no wind-aided times |
| Cade Schulz | Wray | 3 | no additional wind-aided times |
| Thomas Payne | Limon | 7 | |
| Adrian Behena | Center | 4 | no meets after April 18 |
| Cooper Daniels | Vail Christian | 3 | no additional wind-aided times |
| Shawnee Landry | Crested Butte | 1 | no additional wind-aided times |
| Kaleb Schultz | Crested Butte | 7 | |
| Mason Daniels | Vail Christian | 3 | no additional wind-aided times |
| Tyler Hein | Wiggins | 8 |
Top 30 Ranked 2A Boys - 100 Meter Dash (italicized runners did not compete at state)
| Name | School | Marks | Notes |
| Cooper Ward | Resurrection | 7 | |
| Matt Mueller | Del Norte | 4 | two additional wind-aided marks |
| Tullef Rudlong | Lyons | 5 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Shane Finegan | Wiggins | 6 | |
| Bryce Klaseen | Cedaredge | 5 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Dakota Murrow | Resurrection | 5 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Bret Marin | Byers | 10 | |
| Isaac Swoffer | Cedaredge | 5 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Cameron Van Vleet | Paonia | 5 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Kevin Vargas | Ellicott | 2 | competed in four meets in the invitational season |
| John Broadhead | Telluride | 4 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Jacob Robb | Cedaredge | 5 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Trenton Shelton | Meeker | 2 | did not compete after April 4 |
| Xander Camp | Cedaredge | 3 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Bryce Buhr | Crowley County | 5 | also played baseball, no additional wind-aided times |
| Nkosi Roma | Dayspring Christian | 2 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Max Lindgren | Byers | 2 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Ty Grant | Cedaredge | 7 | |
| Mason Daniels | Vail Christian | 7 | |
| Evan Anderson | Resurrection | 2 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Cade Schulz | Wray | 2 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Adam Davis | Hoehne | 9 | |
| Mikeal Ford | Dolores | 1 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Amos Hodges | Telluride | 4 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Austin Chavez | Sanford | 1 | two additional wind-aided marks |
| Cole Rouse | Highland | 7 | |
| Patrick Scoggins | Rangely | 1 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Justis Marshall | Burlington | 5 | no additional wind-aided marks |
| Jeremiah Vigil | John Mall | 8 |