[johnny d]

Even if a pre-race inspection is not required, they are usually performed at state level races. Regardless, an inspection was performed by two different race officials at this meet, neither of whom told the team they were in violation of the rule. Also, the wording of the rule is pretty clear, before an individual can be disqualified from the race for this infraction they first have to be given a warning that they are violating the rule. Only after said warning is given and not heeded, can a person be disqualified. Since no warning was given, the officials were mistaken in going directly to disqualification. And yes, I agree the coaches should know the uniform rules and have their team properly equipped. However, in this instance, in this sport, it does not matter if they do or not. It is the race officials responsibility to provide them with a warning, before they impose the disqualification. The officials did not adhere to the first part of the rule, thus they cannot impose the second part of the rule.

In basketball, their is no provision or requirement for officials to issue a warning before penalizing a uniform infraction. The cross country rule I cited above is pretty clear. The person from the MHSAA is wrong in that while there is no requirement for an official to inspect the uniforms before the race, there is a requirement that the people in violation of the uniform rules be given a warning before they are disqualified.