It's time to review the review that cost Geubelle title

Des Moines, Iowa — Sometimes it takes a controversy that taints an outcome and creates a suspicion that seedy gamesmanship has been rewarded at the expense of good sportsmanship for a rule to get changed in sports.

The time has come for the NCAA to change a track and field rule and call it the Andrea Geubelle Amendment.

Watching Geubelle, the Kansas University junior, go from the happiest athlete in Drake Stadium during the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field national championship meet Saturday to the saddest in a span of 30 minutes served as another reminder that before using technology to replace a human being, all potential implications must be considered.

NCAA track and field rules allow up to 30 minutes after the completion of an event to file an appeal on the outcome. Southern Miss coach Kevin Stephen took advantage of the rule, and after Geubelle, who won the NCAA Indoor triple-jump championship, won the outdoor national championship, protested that she had fouled.

After reviewing the tape, a three-judge panel upheld the appeal and awarded the national title to runner-up Gann Demydova of Southern Miss. Geubelle was bumped to third. Here’s the problem: Had Geubelle known she had fouled, she would have been more careful not to risk fouling on her final two jumps and very well could have won the event.

If meet officials can’t figure out a way to review fouls instantly, then don’t review them at all, because to wait until after the event is to compromise it badly.

It became evident Geubelle will turn this into a positive.

“Right now, it just hurts more than anything,” Geubelle said just before boarding the team bus back to Lawrence. “... There was some bitterness about me winning, and rules are rules. If I fouled, I fouled. The thing that breaks my heart the most is, I jumped the farthest out there today, no matter what.”

Next on her agenda: the Olympic trials June 21-July 1 in Eugene, Ore.

“I’m going to go out swinging at the trials,” said Geubelle, who is smaller than most and not as fast as many she routinely beats. “I would think that people should probably be a little more afraid because I’m (ticked) as I ever could be right now. ... I don’t think I’ve ever gone into a meet (ticked) off, but I can’t imagine it will hurt me.”

Geubelle’s smile lights up a room, but behind it burns an intensely competitive young woman.

“I will compete until the day I die,” she said. “Whatever it takes to get to the Games, I will do that this year. ... This isn’t my last year. I’ll come out next year, too. I would much rather be called out during introductions as the American record holder and an Olympian than as the national champion.”

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theboehr 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I was (ticked) off just reading about this. This incident has the potential to be a real heart breaker for Andrea, but only if she allows it to be. Life teaches us lessons in strange ways sometimes, and it is the most difficult experiences that make us strong (cliche, but true). She jumped far enough to be the NCAA champion, and as long as she remembers that instead of getting down, this experience will take her far (perhaps even further than the championship would have). Andrea has a very bright future, and the NCAA championships haven't seen the last of her. Best of luck to her in the Olympic trials, and way to represent KU! Rock Chalk!

Jayhawk1116 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Good article and good point. That's like challenging a touchdown call from the first quarter in the second quarter.

jhawk0097 11 months, 2 weeks ago

No, it's like challenging a touchdown after the game is over. Ridiculous. Kick some ass at the trials Andrea.

dagger108 11 months, 2 weeks ago

It should be like challenging a ruling. After the next play starts, history is history. 30 minutes is reasonable for a track event, but not a field event with multiple attempts potentially within the 30 minutes.

april28 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Sounds to me like the So. Miss coach purposefully waited until the competition was over, when the athlete has no options, to challenge her jump. He watched her foul on her last two and knew she had no way to come back.

Classic, bush league coaching.

That's what a bad rule allows for - a competing coach to screw an athlete.

mojayhawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

+100

bville_hawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

You nailed it, april28.

BeachHawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I watch a reasonable amount of track and field and this is the first time I have heard of such a rule; who could possibly think this makes sense. If they feel they must have some time requirement, make it 30 minutes after the alleged offense rather than after the event. It amazes me that with all the people who are around the pit, someone could not see there might have been a foul. Jayhawk nation is pround of you Andrea and to us you are the NCAA champion. But better than that, go out and win that gold in the Olympics and show that So. Miss coach.

lv_jhwk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Exactly. How much time passed while she was making her last two attempts?? I would even make the rule that an appeal must be done prior to the jumper's next attempt. The coaches there to make the appeal would know immediately, so there wouldn't be any reason to delay coming forward.

BigManU 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Didn't realize the "Calipari Rule" made it into Track and Field. What a terrible story! This story ticks me off!

mvjayhawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

it's a bad rule for sure, but it also sounds like there's no one around to enforce the one that's on the books.

Who says the protest was filed in 30 minutes? Does a stopwatch automatically start instantly the competition is declared over? it's absurd.

the protest should at least be lodged before the final results are deemed "official." ....that way they're still "unofficial." And then we would know the results are pending...and an athlete like Andrea wouldn't have to find out way after the fact, that wasn't a champion, when she thought she was.

It was a tough meet.....we got put through the ringer a bit...it can only make us tougher and better for next year.

Go Jayhawks!

rduhrich 11 months, 2 weeks ago

This reflects poorly on Southern Miss. It won't be forgotten.

CougIsLJW 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I'm not going to fault the USM coach for taking advantage of a bad rule. If anything, he did more for his athlete than our coaches can say they did for Geubelle. As I commented in the main article, why aren't they telling Geubelle to stay focused and put down more than one good mark in the event this sort of thing happens? No excuse for that.

rockchalk_dpu 11 months, 2 weeks ago

You make it sound like the KU coaches told Geubelle to waste her last 2 attempts and coast to the win instead of what actually happened, that she had one successful (and leading) attempt and decided to push for more distance and happened to fault on both of them.

Not saying that she shouldn't have been a little more cautious in getting a safe attempt in, but there was no evidence to suggest that she had faulted and it wasn't a good jump so there was no reason to play it safe. I agree with the other posters here that there shouldn't be challenges after the round of jumps is completed, or something more considerate and fair for the athletes involved. You are right though, the USM coach did take advantage of the rule as it is written, I just think you are misplaced in your critique of their KU counterparts.

kueck 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Stop taking the high road. What the So Miss. coach did was as bush league as bush league can be. Don't you dare throw it on the KU coaches. They have done an outstanding job with Miss Geubelle and the entire team. You have no idea what goes on between an athlete and a coach during a Triple Jump competition. An entire different approach is taken when an athlete is leading an event as opposed to trailing the leader. Miss Geubelle is a great kid and this will inspire her to greater distances.

CougIsLJW 11 months, 2 weeks ago

So what's the coach supposed to be doing instead of watching them jump?

CougIsLJW 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Wasn't a good jump? It would have won her the NCAA title and given her the meet record! The main article talked about how she was not concerned with making adjustments because in her mind it was over. Not sure why she would feel comfortable when there was still a seemingly capable challenger to her mark, but that's the story Keegan gave us.

Look, no one can argue the USM coach didn't see a foul occur. He was vindicated when it showed up on video. The question becomes then if the KU coaches saw it. These jumpers don't know where they are hitting the board, so if they are over and the officials don't tell them for whatever reason, they need their coach to. And that critique is not nearly as misplaced as the ones here of the USM coach.

kueck 11 months, 2 weeks ago

You need to stop typing. You have not a clue on how to Coach. So please STOP trying to do so.

CougIsLJW 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I'll stop typing when you start making sense.

sae36 11 months, 2 weeks ago

"It became evident Geubelle will turn this into a positive."

- The heart of a true champion. - -

Go Andrea!! RCJH!!

OakvilleJHawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Knowing the NCAA as we all do, it could be awhile before anything is done to fix this awful rule.

For now, every athlete should be informed of the Andrea Addendum whereby every athlete should demand a technological backup after a significant leap.

By the way..we can send men into space but we can't invent a simple way to instantaneously record a foul in a track field event????

Maybe the NCAA should give the bowling industry a call!!!!!

kureader 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Great point about using simple technology to determine a foul.
It is hard to believe that this type of problem can occur.

PikesPeakSmitty 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Time to schedule So. Miss in Basketball.

CoachKevinStephen 11 months, 2 weeks ago

These are the facts:

At the instant of the jump there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that the official on the board missed the foul.

I made the decision to protest less than two minutes after the jump.

The protest was on file less than seven minutes after the jump.

I personally informed my counterpart at Kansas about the protest.

We sat together discussing the protest when the NCAA rep informed us of the decision.

We were told that three officials independently reviewed the film and all ruled that it was a foul.

My counterpart asked if he could see the film but was told that it was against policy.

We were told, "The three officials each said the foul was very clear and couldn't see how the official on the board missed it."

The student athlete with the longest legal jump won the event.

The most unfortunate part was that Andrea was not informed until after the end of competition. She is a very talented young lady with a bright future.

RockChalkCaliHawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

If this is really Coach Kevin Stephen, and I believe it truly is, I want to thank you for stating the facts and letting us know what really happened. Sometimes the mediea blows things way out of proportion, especially Keegan.

Congratulations to you and Gann for her accomplishment.

marchphog88 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Correction: the student athlete with the longest legal jump (and the coach most willing to game the rules to his advantage) won.

We'll never know how much Andrea would've beaten your jumper by if she had been able to make her second two jumps with the knowledge that her first was a foul.

Even though you "protected" your athlete by making sure her best jump ended up being the longest legal jump, you did so at the expense of straightforward and open competition.

Yay sportsmanship!

kueck 11 months, 2 weeks ago

And because of your actions your girl won!!!

Would you have done this if your girl was sitting 4th?

GGGruber 11 months, 2 weeks ago

While the S. Miss coach was protecting his athlete; where in the devil was Kansas's illustrous couch. If Kansas had a competent coach , the athlete would have been warned not to foul the last two jumps. This is just another example of how Kansas sports, sans basketball, is not competitive. Poor coaching, little money spent on those sports and a complete misunderstanding of how to honestly compete underlies Kansas's continued failures. This is just another example of "par for the course".

CoachKevinStephen 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Yes. This is Kevin M. Stephen. I did my job to take care of my athlete. I have the utmost respect for the Kansas Staff. Those guys are doing a great job over there. 4th in the nation is not to shabby.

Wayne_Pate 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Since Kevin decided to chime in on this I guess I will too. All the facts that Kevin said are True. I might add that his time line is a little skewed, though. He did inform me he had filed a protest, AFTER THE COMPETITION WAS OVER (which he has a right to do). That was the first time I had heard about a protest. It's unfortunate for the girls both, Andrea and Ganna, that this happened like it did. It was a great competition. Every coach has the right to protest a wrong. I have seen the film of Andrea's jump. It was a foul, make no mistake about that. The only problem is Andrea and I had no idea during the competition that the jump was not legal, had I known there was some decrepency, trust me we would have did things differently, having the competition secured in our minds, we decided to go after the Olympic A standard, to try and make it to the games. Which is why we threw caution to the wind. Hense the other two fouls. (Side note her last fouled jump was measured at 14.61, which is defiantly the A Standard, probably windy but still the standard.)

Andrea and I are ready to get past this, so we can concentrate on the bigger prize, it's unfortunate we let this one slip away.

I am glad there is a lot of interest on fixing this rule though, So it doesn't happen to anyone else or to us again, the way the rule is now, it could keep on happening again and again. Somebody(athlete/coach) should be informed immediately of a protest AND THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN.

oregonjhawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I understand it's time to move on, Coach Pate, but WHY did you not know the jump was not legal? Moreover, why did you not know the jump was not legal, but the USM coach did? Those are the two questions those critical of the program are asking.

CoachKevinStephen 11 months, 2 weeks ago

My protest was on file at 12:07 pm Saturday 09, June. This was during the 5th round of jumps. This will be my last comment on this issue. I wish Andrea all the best at the trials.

dagger108 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Keegan, Matt, Jesse, Staff - Will there be a follow up to the T&F Championships? From www.big12sports.com, it sounds like the 4x400 was disqualified as well, tho there are so many obvious mistakes in their article, it is tough to determine what actually happened. It would be nice to have a summary of the whole 4 (?) day event. It's an otherwise slow sports time of year. Would make a nice article.

mvjayhawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

the LJW has done a disservice to its readers and needs to correct it. We have two coaches on here...one from USM and one from KU...(and i would assume that they are legit since the LJW would contact them corect to verify???...). who are giving different versions of the events....and now, the USM coach has already changed his story.

his first post: The protest was on file less than seven minutes after the jump.

his 2nd posts: This was during the 5th round of jumps.

well which is it coach? was Andrea the last jumper? her questioned jump was in round 4....i don't know how quickly they move through the jumps, but i can't imagine seven minutes is enough time to get the next round going.

the USM coach also said he informed his KU colleague...now Mr. Pate says no...that's not true. He didn't know about it until AFTER the competition. So someone is directly lying there. And based on Andrea's reaction, I would believe the KU coach on this one.

The right thing to do....the absolute right thing to do...would be to award Andrea the title. She's clearly the best triple jumper in America right now....let alone the NCAA.

Did she foul? Yes, i believe she did, based on the evidence we have. Would she have corrected her steps based on that info.? I believe she would have ...and then we may have seen some real greatness.

There's a real certain degree of fairness that wasn't met here. and the absolute right thing to do, will NOT happen....but in an ideal world, it would.

but in the real real world, the rule should be changed: any foul on a jump or throw, before the last one.....MUST be communicated to the athlete.....period. and that's the meet regulator's job...not the coaches, not the opposing coaches....the NCAA, or Big 12, or UMKC...or whoever's running the meet.

something wrong happened in this event....and that wrong was, we didn't get a chance to see who the absolute best triple jumper in the country was. and that's sad.

Go get 'em Andrea in the trials! Go Jayhawks!

Trackandfield711 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I agree with mvjayhawk, but I also have more. I was in the general area of the KU fans including Coach Wayne Pate. At no point during the competition did the Kansas coach leave. This proving that he was not in the protest area with the southern miss coach, making his statement false. If the Southern Miss coach had so much respect for the kansas coach he should have directly notified the coach of Kansas, and that obviously did not happen until after the competition.

Also, putting all the press release together, Geubelle and Pate's stories continue to be the same, as southern miss stories continue to change, seems a little fishy to me. Another point I would like to make is that, if the Southern Miss coach knew there was a foul, how did his own athlete not know there was a foul. Gana made a comment to the press that she also did not know till after the competition was well over that she had won instead of Geubelle. Also making a comment that she got very nervous when Geubelle passed her, and she knew she had to beat that jump. If 7 minutes after the jump the southern miss coach new they declared a foul then why we're they so nervous they "knew" it was a foul.

I understand that Geubelle fouled the jump and I think she knows that as well, she said it to the press, but she is "ticked" that she didn't know during the competition, because she is a competitor and would have come back "swinging". I believe that if she would have known, her final jump of 14.61 would have been fair because she would have moved her mark back.

The coaching staff at KU is tremendous, if they were not why did they take home Midwest assistant coach AND head coach of the year! Where the southern miss coach does not even coach Gana, she specifically said in an interview that her dad coaches her from the Ukrain. It was an awesome competition to watch both girls competed, I think I many viewers eyes Geubelle took this one. She is what the United States should want representing them in the 2012 Olympics. She dealt with such heartache with class, and like many articles say her smile will brighten the room no matter where she is! A true champion and role model. Good luck at the trials Geubelle keep your head high, I can't wait to watch!

marchphog88 11 months, 2 weeks ago

By the way, if anyone wants to see the video of Geubelle's foul, you can find it in the video on this page:

http://www.kuathletics.com/sports/c-track/recaps/060912aaa.html

Right around the 00:45 mark. It should leave no doubt that Geubelle would have defeated the Southern Miss jumper had she known to ensure legal jumps on one of her final two attempts. She fouled by millimeters, and outpaced Ganna by over 11 cm.

I know that a foul is a foul. But it should be clear to anyone that had Geubelle known about the foul (or even the protest... ahem, Coach Stephen), that it's highly likely she would have taken home first place.

... so let's not jump on another coach needlessly, just because the JW staff didn't get the story right.

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Track & Field

Keegan

It’s time to review the review that cost Geubelle title

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