An Interview with CIF SJS Assistant Commissioner Will DeBoard

The SJS track post season format is changing for the 2026 season. I had heard about this change from several different coaches; but I wanted to hear the facts from "the man," that is CIF Sac Joaquin Section Assistant Commissioner, Will DeBoard. Will is my go to guy when I have rule or format questions. Even though he is very busy, he always finds time to throw some knowledge my direction. In his position he oversees SJS track. As a local boy, (Hughson) he is also a supporter of my mission to promote HS distance running.

 

 

Let's get to the interview. I had six questions:  

1. What was the genesis of the new SJS format for post season track?

There were two major driving factors behind this. First, under the current setup, we had track athletes competing for three full days during the week (divisional trials, divisional finals, Masters trials) at a time when there are a ton of other things happening with schools. We would get beat up by our schools for having so many events taking up the entire day during the week. And second, we always try to give our student-athletes the best championship atmosphere we possibly can. Basketball at Golden 1 Center. Football at Hughes Stadium. Wrestling at Adventist Health Arena. We have two really impressive track facilities in the SJS and I think it’s great to be returning to the former site of the CIF State Championships.

2. Please explain the nuts and bolts of how and who qualifies now (how do you get to Masters?)

There are five divisional trials at home sites, and they send their top 9 in each event to the divisional finals at Hughes on May 16. There, the divisional finals will be contested with the top 10 times out of those five races advancing to Masters finals. It’s similar to how the Southern and Central Sections do it. Masters is strictly a qualifier to state, and we send the top three to state, so bringing the top 10 to Masters is pretty fair. So if you are a divisional champion but have the 12^th best mark, you aren’t going on to Masters. I honestly thought we’d hear more issues about that, but not a lot so far. In the 800m the top 12 will qualify to Masters. In the 1600m the top 24 times at the Hughes meet will qualify for Masters. In the 3200m the top 24 times from the 5 divisional meets will skip the Hughes meet and qualify directly for Masters. At Masters the top 3 in each event will qualify for State.

3. What do you see as the pluses of this new format?

The kids are competing at a larger site and it’s more of a championship atmosphere. We’re adjusting our track postseason so most competitors have fewer difficult choices to make during a crowded calendar. The kids have one fewer day of competition, which some people like and some don’t. We don’t think it’s a bad thing. 

4. Any predictions on how long that Saturday meet at Hughes will take with all 5 divisions there?

The running should take about nine hours. Begins at 10am and the last races should be done by 7pm. The field events will begin an hour earlier and we’re hoping they’ll be done at about the same time. We’re still crunching numbers on the fields events; having multiple pits on-site is big. It’s a first-year grand experiment. We’ll see what works and what doesn’t and we’ll take a look at making corrections. Southern Section uses time standards for all of its qualifiers. Central Section runs two heats for each event in the Masters finals. 

5. Why not have each team compete in their natural enrollment division through seasonal best time/marks instead of by place in in the league championship meet (ie Central Valley is a D1 school and competes in D4 and St Francis is D3 school and competes in D1)?

We do something similar in swimming, so it isn’t foreign. But personally, I like the idea of a league championship meaning something. If we go to time standards to qualify, there’s no need for league championships at all moving forward. In every sport, with the exception of swimming, we’ve operated under the Olympic model of every league qualifying at least one team or one individual to the postseason. Under a time standard format, it’s possible that wouldn’t happen. In addition, unlike swimming, each track is a different environment. It would be a bummer if the reason a kid at a very small school didn’t qualify at all to divisionals because they competed on cinder/dirt tracks for the entire season. We also have a track and field advisory committee made up of coaches from across the SJS; if they want to do something like this, it’s a simple matter of bringing it up and voting on it. While we have at-large marks that allow kids to be able to qualify even if they don’t hit the requisite placement, I don’t recall time standards to straight qualify to divisionals ever being brought up in advisory. While I get the idea of using enrollment to determine divisions – we use it for every team sport – that doesn’t apply quite as easily in individual sports like track and field. In the team sports, the higher division, the stronger the field. But some of our best track and field athletes over the years are not necessarily from Division I. 

6. Any future plans for a major over-haul of post season XC?

Nothing major on the horizon. Although I guess it depends on what you would call “major.” This fall, there will be no more lower level races at the Section championships in Folsom. Lower levels will still compete in sub-sections at Frogtown. We’re always keeping an eye out for something that will improve the experience. I’ve been in charge of cross country at the SJS for the last 15 years, and the complaints we mainly get have to do with the state divisions – they aren’t the same numbers across California – and periodically the running conditions at Folsom. But when other sites are brought up, they usually have more issues than where we currently are.