See a photo finish by clicking HERE.
See sample meet results by clicking HERE.
In the past decade West Holt High School has completely renovated the track. Parents have built shot put returns in the competition area so workers just don't have to retrieve the shot puts. They just drop them in the return. A second discus ring was added for effieciency. The track 9-lane track was resurfaced. New runways and pits were installed, new storage sheds were built, and another level was added to our press box. Roger Brink, a retired coach who is still heavily involved in the program, suggested we look into automated timed and a new scoring system. With his help in fundraising almost $20,000, I have helped implement an online registration program for the coaches, the latest version of the Hy-Tek meet management program, and a FinishLynx timing system that generates photo finishes. It is the same system that is used at the Nebraska State Track Meet.
The system saves me almost 50 hours of set-up time for each meet I direct, which ranges from 3-8 each year, so I am extremely enthusiastic about the system. I send out heat sheets to the coaches the night before a meet so they can contact me with any corrections in advance. Results are available immediately after the meet and our local radio station that broadcasts from the meet and maintains up-to-the minute results on their website only has to import the completed events, rather than type them all in. Within 15 seconds of the completion of a race, athletes and coaches can look to the LCD display and see their places and times in the event. We no longer have issues with coaches arguing with our finish line workers and if there is a problem, we print them a finish line picture. They can't argue with that!
At the time we purchased the system there was not an LCD display that would show double digit lane numbers (for races over 400 meters in which there can be athletes wearing hip numbers up to 24). We warn the coaches in advance that results for the 3200 meter relays and 800 meter, 1600 meter, and 3200 meter runs will not be accurate on the display board. I am seeking a solution to this.
Another issue we faced was a power surge. In the final heat of a boys' 200 meter dash preliminary race, a transformer exploded in town and caused a power surge. While we did have a back-up camera running, both were plugged in and we had no race results. We have since purchased the battery pack for the system and will run our backup camera solely on battery.
The first meet we used the system we were met with skepticism from most coaches. After that first meet, coaches have asked us about renting our facilities and hiring our operators to use the system at their meets.