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We were at a high school track meet today where the winner jumped 10'-0". After she cleared the height, she was preparing for an attempt at 10'-2", so she and her coach measured the bar height to help determine her take-off point, I guess. When they made the measurement, it was obvious that the supposed 10-foot jump was actually 9'-10" because the height tapes on the standards were incorrect (this seems to be an epidemic with me). Evidently, every jump all day long was recorded 2 inches higher than it actually was.

The jump had been recorded as 10 feet on the sheet, and the announcement was made that she was the winner at 10 feet.

What do the rules say about this sort of situation?

On the NFHS web site this is posted:
2010 NFHS Track and Field and Cross Country Rules Interpretations
"Situations" 4, 5 and 6 have to do with pole vault and standards setting. None of them cover your specific question unfortunately. But they might give you a sense that the referee has the authority to make a call.

(The rest of this may be a bit off topic...) I went to my NFHS rule book looking for a definition about how to measure the bar height. I wasn't happy with what I found in that it doesn't explicitly say to move the standards so the bar is directly above the zero point (top of the back of the stop board) before making the measurement. (Caveat: the only rule book I presently have available is for 2009. 7-5-28)

I'm always curious as to how the bar was measured when there are problems measuring a bar height. Very few pits that I have seen for high schools have standards properly placed and a proper zero defined. Often the standards are placed on a surface that cannot be easily determined to be the same elevation as the top of the box. When I'm asked to officiate a meet I check the zero point with a plumb bob. The standard placement is then relative to that measurement. I'm also a stickler for getting the crossbar rotated in the bar ends such that the natural bar sag is down, and also mark the bar so that the same face always faces the runway (7-5-27 in 2009) That way every competitor gets to jump at a bar that has the same characteristics (as near as possible).

ClintonMagus wrote:We were at a high school track meet today where the winner jumped 10'-0". After she cleared the height, she was preparing for an attempt at 10'-2", so she and her coach measured the bar height to help determine her take-off point, I guess. When they made the measurement, it was obvious that the supposed 10-foot jump was actually 9'-10" because the height tapes on the standards were incorrect (this seems to be an epidemic with me). Evidently, every jump all day long was recorded 2 inches higher than it actually was.

I don't think I've ever seen a HS PV setup that had accurate standards (within a 1/2 inch), and it is common for them to be off (almost always low) by 1.5 or more. Usually the problem is that the standards base is not at the same level as the top of the back of the box. Whenever I run the event (or are helping, or are even near by I always at least measure the height of the bar on the lowest pegs right at the start, and then determine an offset that is used for the rest of the meet. (So if the standards say 7' 0" and the tape says 6' 10", we'll add two inches to every standard setting for the rest of the meet. I'll trust that the markings on the standards do increment as stated, but don't trust the actual value).

IMO, if you aren't going to measure to get them "nearly accurate" at the beginning of the meet, you shouldn't measure them at all. No kid wants to find out after the fact that what they think was their new PR (particularly if its a significant milestone, like clearing 10' to join the 3 meter club for a girl) was in fact not what they thought. And in a HS meet, just about every bar height is a PR for some kid in the competition.