Entry Info

Table of Contents

• Eligibility Requirement
• Starting Heights
• Qualifying Standards
• Meet Criteria

Eligibility Requirement

Only U.S. citizens, aliens living in the United States, and foreign exchange students are eligible to compete in these Championships. See the USATF Rules for more information and exceptions, by visiting https://www.usatf.org/governance/rule-books

The competition will be conducted in six age divisions as follows:

Per USATF Competition Rule 300.1 (c), athletes must be at least seven (7) years of age on December 31 of the current year in order to compete in the Youth Athletics or Junior Olympic National Championships.
**Athletes born in 1998 are also eligible if they do not turn 19 on or before 7/30/17.

A competitor must compete in his/her age division only. There will be no "moving up" in any events, including relays. Competitors in the 8 & under, 9-10 and 11-12 divisions may compete in a maximum of three events, including relays. Competitors in the 13-14, 15-16, and 17-18 divisions may compete in a maximum of four events, including relays. Combined events are not included in the event count.

All athletes must be 2017 members of USATF in good standing. USATF memberships may be purchased online by http://www.usatf.org/Products---Services/Individual-Memberships.aspx or through your local Association Office.

All clubs must be 2017 USATF member organizations.

All relay team members must be members of the same club, which must also be registered with the club's local USATF Association for 2017, and must wear jerseys and shorts of the same color

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Starting Heights

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Qualifying Standards 

Events in bold will be contested at the Championships.  Events listed directly below those being contested may be used as alternates for qualifying.  See Qualifying Guidelines below for full details.

Qualifying window (all events except HEP, DEC, 10k, and RW): July 1, 2016 – June 18, 2017

HEP, DEC, 10K, and RW Qualifying window: January 1, 2016 – June 18, 2017

* F.A.T. is the only method of timing acceptable for qualifying marks for events listed with an asterisk.

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Meet Criteria

In order for a mark from a meet or single event to be accepted for qualifying for the USATF T&F Championships, USATF Junior T&F Championships or U.S. Olympic T&F Trials – as well as for USATF to be able to validate the mark(s) to the IAAF for World Championships qualifying purposes, the following criteria apply:

1. The meet/event must appear on an organization’s previously published calendar of events.
2. Meets that are to be held in the first three (3) weeks of June, and which are not on an organization’s previously published calendar of events, must be reported to USATF at [duffy.mahoney@usatf.org] or (317-713-4673) not later than Thursday, June 1, 2017.
   • Doing so will permit the USATF staff member designated by the Sports Committee Chairs, to review the proposed meet/event.  If the meet/event were then approved, this would give sufficient time for meet information to be disseminated to as wide a range of interested athletes as possible.
   • Failure to adhere to this protocol will likely result in the performance(s) being disallowed for qualifying for these Championships.
3. The meet/event must be sanctioned in advance by USATF or the Governing Body of another nation.  While they might not be sanctioned by USATF, high level collegiate and high school meets, such as a high school or college invitationals, championships, relay carnivals, etc., will be recognized as valid meets for qualifying provided all other criteria are met.
4. The meet/event must be held on a legal facility as per USATF and/or IAAF rules.
5. USATF certified or recognized officials must officiate at the meet/event.
6. In the 100m, 200m, 400m, 100m hurdles, 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles, only marks made using FAT (full automatic timing to the hundredth of a second [.01]) will be accepted for QUALIFYING PURPOSES.  The provisions of USATF Rule 165 shall apply for video tape timing.
7. In the short sprints (100m & 200m), short hurdles (100m & 110m), horizontal jumps (long jump & triple jump), a wind gauge must be used and reported.  A mark made with a wind reading exceeding 2.0 meters per second or higher will not be acceptable for qualifying.
8. At least five (5) competitors must participate in each event.  All such athletes must be of the same gender, and may not be a mix of masters and/or youth athletes.
9. In throwing events, all implements must be officially measured and certified according to USATF and/or IAAF rules.
10. Mixed competitions for events inside the stadium are generally not acceptable.  However, in field events and races of 5000m or longer, mixed competition may be approved by the respective Sport Committee - this approval being needed in advance of the event.
11. Trials-finals, qualifying-finals, rounds in running events, etc. must be run according to USATF and/or IAAF rules & regulations.  Duplicate events on the same day, unless following the World/Olympic same-day qualifying & finals format, will not be acceptable for qualifying purposes.

12. Meet results for each jumping and throwing event, including field event recording sheet(s) and throwing implement verification sheets, may be requested and sent/faxed (317-261-0514) to the USATF National Office, attn:  Duffy Mahoney.

13. Meet results should always be faxed or e-mailed to: USATF at [stats@usatf.org] and T&F News at [stats@trackandfieldnews.com].