ADs nix proposal for seeding changes

LIHUE » Surprises on day two of the Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association annual conference?

None.

Frustrated athletic directors? At least one.

That might be first-year Maryknoll AD Ben Valle, who came to his first conference prepared to push for a proposal that would improve on the current seeding process for the state championships.

Instead, his plan was soundly defeated in a straw vote on Thursday and pulled from further discussion on Friday. It won’t even be up for a minority report vote when the general assembly meets this morning for final voting.

For Valle, it was troubling to see the Spartans’ girls basketball team go undefeated in ILH Division II last winter, then get seeded third in the state tourney. Maryknoll was pegged behind top-seeded Radford and second-seeded Kamehameha-Hawaii even though the Spartans defeated Radford in the title game of an early nonconference tournament.

Radford lost its opening-round state-tourney game to unseeded Hawaii Prep, while Maryknoll reached the semifinals and lost to eventual champion Kamehameha-Hawaii. After the tourney, KS-Hawaii coach Garrett Arima echoed the sentiment of many coaches and fans — that Maryknoll deserved to be seeded higher.

More recently, the state baseball tourney had some fans miffed about the seeding process. Waiakea, which was ranked No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Baseball Top 10 toward the end of the season, was seeded third by the HHSAA committee. The Warriors (20-0) went on to win the state championship in the final over Baldwin, which had been seeded fourth.

Valle wants to see more clarification on the process, though the HHSAA has staunchly defended the importance of state-tourney history as a key part of criteria.

"Maybe I’m being too naive about the (voting) system. I thought the idea would catch fire," said Valle, a former Maryknoll basketball standout. "In sports, I don’t see anything more simple than head-to-head (competition)."

Valle noted that within the ILH, his proposal was supported by a wide margin, though several administrators are content with the existing process. Questions have been raised in recent years about the seeding committees, however, since some of the members don’t attend many games during the regular season.

Seabury Hall AD Steve Colflesh hopes Valle and other administrators remain open to ideas.

"It’s important that younger athletic directors get involved, learn the process and not get frustrated. You have to persevere. It’s the same lesson we teach our athletes," he said.

Colflesh articulated a proposal on Thursday favoring a change in the HHSAA’s voting system. Instead of giving each school one vote, Colflesh proposed one vote per league.

That proposal was not popular with the state’s heavyweight leagues, the ILH and OIA. Between those two Oahu-based entities, they have more than enough votes to outnumber neighbor island leagues. Colflesh, who has penned many innovative proposals over the years, was undeterred.

"Hopefully, this will lead to more discussion," Colflesh said.

Other proposals went forward as expected in committee voting on day two. Track and field’s expansion from 26 qualifiers to 32 was approved in committee and will be up on the floor this morning for final HIADA vote.

The proposal to expand girls wrestling weight classes to 14 from 11 was approved in committee by a near unanimous vote. With 14 divisions, the girls would match the number of classes available to boys.

"More girls will get more participation," Kahuku wrestling coach Reggie Torres said.

The MIL’s proposal to expand the D-I football tourney field from six to eight teams was, as expected, voted down in committee. With the ILH and OIA possessing the votes to outnumber the neighbor islands, it doesn’t seem likely that a return to the eight-team format will happen any time soon. Kamehameha-Maui AD Kurt Ginoza hoped to address the advantage of being seeded first or second by expanding the field and eliminating the opening-round bye.