When does it happen that a runner who finishes in second place in a high school track meet race has a faster time than the runner who finishes in first?

Last week, at a North Schuylkill exhibition 100 meter run, the second place finisher was timed seven-tenths of a second faster than the first place runner.Not only is there an explanation, but there is also a solution to the problem. Human error or inaccuracy often occurs in the timing of high school track meets when it involves the use of stop watches, In this particular case, the timekeeper who was responsible for clicking the stop on his watch for the runner who finished second actually stopped his watch a bit quicker than the timekeeper did on his watch for the first place finisher."This happens more than you might think when it comes to the use of stop watches," says Jim Thorpe coach Frank Miller. "The solution is simple. They reverse the times so the first place runner actually gets the second place time."The Olympian track team no longer has to worry about incorrect times for their races. For the past three seasons, Miller has utilized a Fully Automatic Timing System (FAT) for all races held on the JTHS track.Miller explains that FAT commences its operation at the starting line. Before this system was utilized, timekeepers would start their watches when they saw smoke rise from the starting pistol. Now the official who shoots the pistol wears a sensor on his wrist that begins a computerized time clock at the exact moment the trigger is pulled. At the finish line, no clock is used to freeze the runners' times. Instead, a video camera captures each runner at precisely the moment he or she crosses the line. A computer screen records all runners at 100 frames per second (100 pictures of each runner per second). The computer attaches precise times to each frame so that total accuracy is not jeopardized."In my initial research of FAT, I found that a company named Eagle Eye Digital Video was selling systems that were affordable for high school purchase," says Miller. "We were fortunate that our Booster Club had the funds to make the $4900 investment."Miller adds that the system has already proven its cost effectiveness. In previous Olympian Invitational Meets, a professional timekeeper from Delaware was hired at the cost of $1100 per year to time the meets so in the past three seasons, Jim Thorpe has already saved $3300."We also rent our system out for $650. Recently it has been used in the Tamaqua Invitational, the Pine Grove Invitational, and the Schuylkill League Championship Meet," says Miller. That has returned $1950 to us so the system is now paid in full."The eight-year track coach, who is also Jim Thorpe's football offensive coordinator, admits there are a few glitches with FAT, but they are minor compared to those from hand held stop watches. Sometimes a gust of wind or an errant whistle could start the system because it is sound-sensitive or if the sensor doesn't pick up the starting pistol shot, Miller will shoot another gun off to indicate a false start to the runners."Its consistency in accuracy overrides any problems that may occur," he says. "With human timing, usually done by volunteers or school teachers, anywhere from .24 to .75 of a second is added to each runner's time to account for inaccuracies. And we still require people to use stop watches when boys and girls meets occur simultaneously because we only have one system for one set of races."Miller notes that not everyone has embraced FAT. "Younger coaches who are more tech- oriented favor it more than the "30 year coach who still believes that we should keep timing races the way we have always done."Right now, Miller operates the system at home meets, and he admits that this takes him away from some of his coaching responsibilities. He claims though that anyone with basic computer skills can learn to run the system in less than an hour, and then train with supervised practice at meets.From the athlete's perspective with FAT, a few interesting issues have come up. Those runners from other schools who are used to stop watch times, get "sticker shock" when they see how slower their computerized times may be compared to the numbers In a timekeeper's hand.Another issue Miller raises is the possibility that FAT accurate times may actually be a disadvantage to Jim Thorpe runners because other schools' runners could have inaccurately inflated times due to stop watch error."It's still a great system and it will be used in all the major invitationals and meets at the local, state and national levels," he says.Cost is the biggest issue as to why every high school doesn't purchase the system. Not all booster clubs have the investment funds and with school budgets getting slashed and with some area schools requiring their athletes to pay to play, it may take years before the Fully Automatic Timing System becomes the norm at local track meets.Only time will tell.**********BASEBALLTWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE - Last Wednesday, Northwestern nearly played two full baseball games against Colonial League foe Notre Dame of Green Pond, as the Tigers needed 13 innings to post a 6-5 victory. With the game tied at 4-4, Notre Dame took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 13th; however, Northwestern answered right back in the bottom of the frame with a fielder's choice RBI by Tyler Breininger. Shortly after, Brandon Eden came home with the game-winning run on a Notre Dame fielding error. The 13-inning victory is the longest played game in the TIMES NEWS area this season, surpassing the Palmerton baseball team's 11-inning 4-3 victory over Wilson on April 10. So far this season, there have been five games involving TIMES NEWS baseball teams to go into extra innings, while eight TIMES NEWS softball teams have combined to play in six extra-inning contests. The Northwestern softball team leads the way, having played in four extra inning games (1-3) so far this year.**********SO CLOSE TO PERFECTION - Panther Valley's Luke Stano was so close to throwing a perfect game last Wednesday against Jim Thorpe. Stano took a perfect game into the top of the seventh inning, but a single by Jim Thorpe's Ryan McCullough ruined Stano's quest for perfection. Stano finished with the one-hit shutout and led his Panthers to their third straight victory after starting the season 0-6.**********WALK-OFF WINS - During Wednesday's 5-4 victory over Schuylkill League rival Blue Mountain, Tamaqua scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to gain its second walk-off victory of the season. With the game tied at 4-4, Tamaqua's Matt Roberts delivered an RBI-single, which scored Nate MacDonald from second base, to give the Blue Raiders the victory. Earlier this season, Tamaqua secured a walk-off home run from Brett Kosciolek in the bottom of the seventh in a 1-0 victory over Lehighton. Ironically enough, the Tamaqua softball team has three walk-off victories so far this season to lead the TIMES NEWS-area. Then on Monday, Northern Lehigh secured a walk-off victory of its own with a 4-3 Colonial League upset over rival Northwestern. Tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, a John Taylor RBI-single ended the game, as the Bulldogs walked off with their second win of the season (2-11).**********TICKETS PUNCHED - The Northwestern and Tamaqua baseball teams became the second and third teams from the TIMES NEWS coverage area to punch their tickets to the District 11 playoffs. With a 6-5 victory over Catasauqua on Friday, the Tigers improved to 9-6 on the season, but in doing so, gained their eighth Colonial League victory to qualify for the Class AAA postseason tournament for the ninth straight season. Meanwhile, Tamaqua (10-3) earned its tenth win of the season in Monday's 10-3 victory over Jim Thorpe, which qualified the Blue Raiders into the District 11 Tournament for the second consecutive season. Tamaqua is the reigning District 11 Class AAA champion.**********GOING, GOING, GONE - On Wednesday, Marian's Peter Baddick blasted his third home run of the season in a 5-4 loss to Tri-Valley. The three home runs tops all TIMES NEWS-area baseball players this season. Marian's Luke Stawick, Tamaqua's Brett Kosciolek and Panther Valley's Mark Williams all have two home runs apiece so far this season.**********SOFTBALLPLENTY OF RUNS - On April 17 against Lincoln Leadership Academy, Lehighton scored 22 runs, which was the most by a TIMES NEWS area team (baseball or softball) this season. In an omission from last week's Spring Sports Notebook, the Palmerton softball team also engaged in a scoring bonanza on April 22 by scoring 20 runs in a 20-10 Colonial League victory over Palisades. The Lady Indians and Lady Bombers are the only two TIMES NEWS teams to score 20 or more runs in a game this season.**********FRESHLY MADE NO-HITTER - Jim Thorpe freshman Maggie Holloway threw her first career no-hitter in last Wednesday's 15-0 victory over Panther Valley in three innings. Holloway struck out three, while issuing two walks. It is the fourth no-hitter thrown by TIMES NEWS area pitchers this season. Marian's Bethany Schaud threw two consecutive perfect games, while Lehighon's Autumn Bickert and Allison Armbruster combined for a three-inning no-hitter.**********THE COMEBACK KIDS - In Monday's Schuylkill League softball tilt between Mahanoy Area and Marian, Mahanoy Area's Emily Bruce took a no-hitter into the seventh inning with the Golden Bears holding a 2-0 lead. However, Marian's dormant offense exploded in the top of the seventh inning by scoring all five of its runs and recording all three of its hits in the frame, as the Fillies rallied for a 5-2 victory. Lindsay Nemeth and Bryianna Pearson broke up Bruce's no-hit bid by leading off the seventh inning with back-to-back singles. Two more Marian batters reached base following back-to-back walks, which cut the deficit to 2-1. Marian's Mackenzie Joy then delivered a clutch two-run double, which proved to be the game-winning hit.**********KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK - On Friday, Pleasant Valley pitcher Tracey Deubler had a game to remember in a 3-0 victory over East Stroudsburg South. The Pleasant Valley hurler tossed seven innings of one-hit softball, while striking out 16 and yielding just two walks. The only hit Deubler gave up was a single to Liz Asher. The 16 strikeouts is a new TIMES NEWS-area high for this season, two more than the 14 strikeouts Northern Lehigh's Amber Thomas posted in a 7-1 victory over Wilson.**********DANCING INTO DISTRICTS - Last Wednesday, Pleasant Valley became the first TIMES NEWS-area team to qualify for the District 11 playoffs with 14-1 victory over East Stroudsburg North. The win improved the Lady Bears to 7-2 on the season, but more importantly, gave them their sixth win (6-0) in the Mountain Valley Conference, which qualified Pleasant Valley for the Class AAAA Tournament. The Lady Bears, who have now made the district playoffs 13 consecutive seasons, join the Northwestern and Tamaqua baseball teams as the only local squads to have currently punched their District 11 tickets.**********HOME RUN DERBY - On Thursday, Northern Lehigh's Amber Thomas belted her third home run of the season in a 14-3 loss to Bangor. Then, on Friday and Saturday, Lehighton's Jocelyn Hunsicker recorded her second and third home runs of the season by belting three-run homers against Stroudsburg and Panther Valley respectively. Not to be outdone, Northern Lehigh's Taylor Herman knocked out her third homer of the season on Saturday in an 18-1 drubbing of Pocono Mountain West. Thomas, Hunsicker and Herman join Palmerton's Janel Tracy (who also has three round-trippers this season) atop the softball home run leaderboard in the TIMES NEWS-area. There are four players with two home runs apiece: Amanda Loudon (Lehighton), Abby Stankiewitch (Marian), Reese Dugan (Palmerton) and Jordan Meckes (Pleasant Valley).**********TENNISOH HENRY! - On Monday afternoon at Lehigh University, Northwestern Lehigh senior Henry Paiste won his fourth consecutive District 11 Class AA Singles Tennis Championship with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Moravian Academy's Zach Shaff. Paiste, the reigning three-time TIMES NEWS Boys Tennis Player of the Year, became the first four-time boys tennis singles champion is District 11 history. The only other tennis player to win four consecutive District Titles was Allentown Central Catholic's Sheila O'Donnell, who accomplished the feat from 1979-1982. As a junior, Paiste defeated Shaff 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. In his sophomore year, he defeated Allentown Central Catholic's Libario Obeid 6-4, 6-2. As a freshman, Paiste knocked off Moravian Academy's Andrew Ma 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Overall, Paiste is an incredible 234-48 in District 11 Tournament games during his four-year high school career, and even more impressively, he dropped just two sets during that time (both coming in championship matches).**********SINGLED OUT - Last Wednesday, Pleasant Valley's Jon White and John Walmach both advanced to the quarterfinals of the District 11 Class AAA Tennis Tournament at Saucon Valley High School, marking the first time ever that two Pleasant Valley singles players have advanced to the quarterfinals of the District 11 Tournament. However, Walmach eventually lost to Emmaus' Matt FitzMaurice in the quarterfinals, while White dropped his first singles match of the season to FitzMaurice in the semifinals.**********TRACK AND FIELDINVITATIONAL SUCCESS - On Friday evening, the Jim Thorpe boys won the team championship of the Pine Grove Invitational in convincing fashion with a score of 127.5. Mahanoy Area scored 55 points to finish in second place. Khalliq Lynch picked up three individual championships (100, 200, long jump), and was also part of the winning 400 relay team. With the team championship, Jim Thorpe joins the Palmerton boys (Whitehall Zephyr Relays and Jim Thorpe Olympian Invitational) as the only TIMES NEWS-area track and field teams to capture an Invitational Title this season.**********A RAY OF HOPE - Last week, Tamaqua received a huge boost when senior Tyler Hope returned to action after missing most of the season so far with a lower-back injury he's been battling since football season last fall. Hope, a two-time District 11 champion in the javelin (Class AA in 2013, Class AAA in 2013) and state runner-up in the event in Class AA in 2012 received the go-head to return to active track and field competition on April 18. In his first competition back in a duel meet with Minersville last Tuesday, Hope took first place with a throw of 166 feet. Then, at Friday's Pine Grove Invitational, Hope won the event with a TIMES NEWS-area best 171-10.**********EYE OF THE TIGER(S) - In Thursday's Colonial League tri-meet against Bangor and Southern Lehigh, the Northwestern girls defeated previously undefeated Southern Lehigh by a final score of 87-73 to extend their duel meet winning streak to 20 (dating back to the beginning of the 2013 season when the Lady Tigers finished a perfect 11-0). Then, on Tuesday against Pen Argyl and Salisbury, Northwestern extended its winning streak to 22 and put the finishing touches on its second straight undefeated season (11-0) and second consecutive Colonial League Girls Duel Meet Championship. However, it wasn't just the girls track team that had success this season at Northwestern. The boys team also wrapped up an undefeated season with victories over Pen Argyl and Salisbury on Tuesday afternoon to capture the Colonial League Boys Duel Meet Championship.**********JUMPIN' JARRAD - Jarred Sacks of Palmerton set a new school record in the triple jump Friday at the Allentown School District (ASD) Invitational. With a jump of 46-2, Sacks actually shattered a mark that was 39 years old. The previous Blue Bombers triple jump record was 44-10 set by Jan Krawchuk in 1975. Sacks' jump of 46-2 is an area best this season (bettering his own mark of 44-4 1/2). The TIMES NEWS all-time area best in the triple jump is 47-5 1/2 set by Tamaqua's Dave Keich in 1983.**********SPINNING RECORDS - In Monday's Mountain Valley Conference track meet against Pocono Mountain West, Lehighton's Gwen Remaley set a new school record in the discus with a throw of 120-4. The throw is a new TIMES NEWS-area best this season, passing Trista Cunningham of Northwestern (111-10). The TIMES NEWS all-time area best in the discus is 129-11 by Heike Koopman of Northwestern in 1981.