Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc.

9150 North Meridian Street, Box 40650, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240-0650

Phone: 317-846-6601 Fax: 317-575-4244 Website: www.ihsaa.org

Blake Ress, Commissioner

____________________________________________________________________

MEDIA INFORMATION

June 21, 2007

Contact: Jason Wille, Sports Information Director

E-mail: jwille@ihsaa.org

IHSAA COMMITTEE APPROVES CHANGES TO FALL SPORTS STATE TOURNEYS

In its final meeting of the 2006-07 school year, the IHSAA Executive Committee took action on several items today including approving plans for the state tournaments in the eight fall sports as well as making an emergency amendment to Rule 9-10 of the IHSAA By-Laws.

Changes to Rule 9-10 were unanimously approved by the group and more definitively outline when girls may participate on boys teams with respect to the regular season and the state tournament series if their school doesn’t offer a comparable program for girls. It also eliminates cases in which girls in individual sports were able to double the amount of regular season experience by participating on their school’s boys team as well playing as individuals in their own regular season before competing in the state tournament. The rule goes into effect on July 1.

The committee also approved new sectional alignments in cross country and girls golf for the 2007 seasons.

Schools participating in the cross country sectionals will compete against nearly the same schools as they do in the track and field sectionals in the spring. At the same time, the committee approved advancing a sixth team to the state finals from each of the four cross country semi-states. The state finals will now consist of 24 teams instead of 20 as in previous years. Unrelated to today’s meeting, but worth reiterating, is that the committee unanimously approved in January an increase in the girls race distance from 4,000 to 5,000 meters. That will go into effect for this fall’s state tournament series.

The committee also affirmed a measure increasing the number of girls golf sectionals from 21 to 28 today bringing that tournament into line along with the boys.

Schools will be notified of their new sectional assignments when minutes from today’s meeting are e-mailed in the near future.

Also of note, Plymouth principal Dick Tobias, who recently announced his retirement from the school, submitted his resignation from the IHSAA Board of Directors and Executive Committee. His seat, representing District I, Class 3A, will be vacant until the next election in December.

The group’s next meeting and the first for the 2007-08 school year is scheduled for Monday, August 6.

NEW STATE HISTORICAL MARKER WILL HONOR ARTHUR TRESTER

The Indiana High School Athletic Association’s first commissioner will be honored on July 4 by a new state historical marker.

The marker for Arthur L. Trester, who served as the Association’s commissioner from 1928 until his death in 1944, will be dedicated by the Indiana Historical Bureau at the Interurban Reading Room in Amo, Indiana, just two miles west of Trester’s birthplace in Pecksburg in Hendricks County.

Trester began his career in 1904 as a math teacher at Alexandria High School, was elected to the IHSAA’s Board of Control in 1911 and appointed permanent secretary in 1913 before becoming commissioner.

The mental attitude award in the boys basketball state finals was named for Trester in 1945.

IHSAA 06-07/50