Missed opportunity

COMPETITION CONFUSION — Paradise sophomore Channing Beauvais missed her chance to compete at the 3A state track and field championships earlier this month after what Paradise ISD officials believe was a lack of communication from the UIL regarding a wildcard coin toss decision. MICAH MCCARTNEY/WCMESSENGER

Paradise sophomore Channing Beauvais’ goal was to represent her school and compete at the 3A state track and field championships this year. 

Instead, the Lady Panther high jumper is now left wondering why her name was on the state roster when she was told she did not earn a state bid.

“I was disappointed,” Beauvais said. “They kept calling my name [at the state meet], but I kept thinking ‘I’m not there.’” 

Beauvais cleared 5-03 to claim bronze at the 3A Region II meet in April at Whitehouse High School. Her height was matched by Abigail Carr of Clyde at the Region I championships at Abilene’s Elmer Gray Stadium.

“Going into regionals, I had a goal to jump higher than I actually did,” Beauvais said. “I didn’t jump like I wanted to.” 

According to a statement by Paradise ISD, the district thought Carr had won the wildcard by clearing the bar at the previous height (5-02) in less attempts. 

“After we finished the regional meet, we compared the results from the other regions and believed that Channing disappointingly missed out on the wildcard by one missed attempt,” the statement read.

However, it was Beauvais’ name that was called out on the PA system at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, leaving Paradise ISD officials wondering why they were not made aware of the tiebreaker. 

“On Thursday [May 11], we found out that Channing had actually qualified to compete at the state meet, winning a coin toss [against Carr] from [Region I],” the district’s statement said. “We, nor the opposing school, knew anything about the tie or the coin toss, which was administered by the UIL. By the time we received the information, it was too late.”   

In an emailed response from UIL communications coordinator Julia Zachary, the coin toss was selected as a tiebreaking method after Beauvais and Carr missed the same number of attempts at 5-03 before clearing the bar.

CONTROVERSIAL JUMP — Paradise sophomore Channing Beauvais believed she had been beaten out for a 3A state wildcard in high jump, but later found out she was inadvertently left on the state meet roster after being declared the winner over Clyde’s Abigail Carr following a coin toss. MIKE HALL

“According to the official results from the regional meet[s], the student athletes from Clyde and Paradise had the same number of unsuccessful attempts at 5-03 before successfully clearing,” Zachary said. “As [UIL Track and Field Plan Section 1320(h)(3)] states, the competitor with the fewest total number of unsuccessful trials throughout the competition — up to and including the height last cleared — will be declared the winner. Since both athletes had the same number of unsuccessful trials throughout the competition, the rules state the tiebreaker must then be decided by a coin toss. [Beauvais] won the tiebreaker for the ninth qualifier spot.”

Zachary also said the UIL’s Track and Field Calendar and Postseason Update states that “it is the responsibility of each school to visit the UIL website for school and coaches’ instructions, as well as a list of qualifiers to the UIL state meet.”

Due to the confusion regarding the wildcard, Carr did not compete at the state meet either, as Beauvais’ name was listed among the event’s roster. 

Beauvais said the eventual outcome was difficult to accept. 

“It’s kind of hard,” she said. “We jumped the same height in the end. I had one more attempt than her, but I did win the coin flip, and I didn’t even know that was a rule. I really don’t know how to feel about it.”

The circumstances surrounding the controversy have sparked Beauvais’ desire to punch her ticket to the state championships next season. 

“I definitely don’t want to be a wildcard next year,” Beauvais said. “I want to make sure I get first or second at regionals, and know without a doubt that I qualified. I’m better at high jump, but I want to go in 100 hurdles, too. I’ve false started [in hurdles] two years in a row now, and I really want that to end.”