The True Team format is meant to determine the top overall team, rather than individuals, in a track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 or swim

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 and dive

Diving

Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

 competition. In a True Team meet, each team has a given amount of competitors, with each competitor scoring at least one point (barring disqualification). Therefore, in a nine team meet with three competitors per event, the event champion would earn 27 points whereas the last place finisher would earn 1 point. The purpose of a True Team meet is to judge which team is the best overall, rather than which team has the most top finishers.

Minnesota

Minnesota began using a True Team format to determine the top high school track and field team in 1987. The meet has since expanded to three divisions. In 2005, Minnesota added a True Team State Meet for swim and dive. Both are sanctioned by the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association, rather than the Minnesota State High School League

Minnesota State High School League

The Minnesota State High School League is a voluntary, non-profit association for the support and governance of interscholastic activities at high schools in Minnesota, United States. The association supports interscholastic athletics and fine arts programs for member schools...

, which sanctions the individual state championships.

Minnesota True Team State Track and Field

Minnesota True Team State Track and Field

The Minnesota True Team State Meet was created in 1987 by the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association to determine the top overall team based on depth rather than top finishers. In a traditional track and field meet, only the top eight or nine competitors per event score points...

Format

• The teams are divided into eight True Team Regions, generally with nine teams per region
• Each team has two competitors per event in Class AA and A, and one team for every relay. (Class AAA has three competitors per event.)
• The top team from each region goes to the True Team State Meet
• A ninth wildcard team is added into the True Team State Meet by comparing the results of each region's second place team
• The True Team State Meet takes place on a 9-lane track, so there are three heats per running event with one competitor from each team in a heat

External links

• Minnesota State High School Coaches Association official website