A change to the MIAA Outdoor Track and Field Divisional State Championships now has senior athletes at dozens of schools choosing whether to compete or to attend their own graduation. 

In the past, the championship was typically on Memorial Day weekend, however the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association says the date changed last year and was approved by a committee of principals, athletic directors, coaches, and officials. 

"You're choosing to let down your team or not. A lot of really high scoring people on our team are seniors, and they will have to choose to affect total team score or celebrate their successes at graduation," said Kayla Ahern, a senior on the Walpole High School track and field team. "You work so hard to graduate. It is a culmination of all of your academic success, and everything you have been doing these past four years." 

Scheduling conflict

The competition begins May 29 and goes through June 1. Walpole's graduation is on June 1. Walpole Athletic Director Ron Dowd was told that athletes could choose to compete across two days for their school. 

"We graduate Sunday, so the kids that miss their Sunday events could run Friday. That's how it was explained to me," said Dowd. 

Parents and athletes tell WBZ they don't believe it is logistically possible to hold every event on multiple days as some events have preliminaries before finals. Other events, such as a relay, need multiple students there at once. 

If students choose to compete on different days, some athletes believe there is a competitive disadvantage to not having the best competition running the same race. 

Competition concerns

"If you're the fastest, and not running against equal competition, you won't perform as well. It's going to affect your chances at qualifying for states and nationals and all of those really big meets," said Ahern. 

"As a competitor, I don't want to win because I race and get a place that I got because someone couldn't race it," said Luke Zahurak, a junior runner for Walpole High School who will be impacted by the date change next year. "I want to beat kids straight up. I don't want to be like I got second because he wasn't here." 

Portia Lee is the mother of Zakai Lee Perkins, one of the best track and field athletes in the state. He just finished competing at nationals. She says he was told that only athletes competing in multi-event disciplines like the decathlon will be allowed to compete on the day of their choosing, but that individual events will go on as they are scheduled. 

"His primary focus is 100-meter hurdles and long jump. He would have to miss hurdles if he were to completely walk and get his high school diploma," said Lee. "For the individual races it is my understanding that they stand for Sunday the date of graduation on June 1." 

The MIAA does confirm that individual events will only be conducted on scheduled dates, but athletes can choose to compete on a date that doesn't conflict. 

"He is choosing to run"

"If Zakai is put in a position where he has to choose, he is choosing to run," said Lee. "We are all disappointed that they would have to make such a choice." 

At Walpole, Dowd is gathering steam on a proposal to change the date and to create a unified calendar for all sports seasons that will also avoid athletics on what is typically graduation weekend for many schools in the state. 

"I think graduation weekend should be a no-go for all sports. Parents have worked hard; students have worked hard. They waited for this day to graduate," said Dowd. "Lay the calendar out for the next four, five, eight years with a standard start time and end time. The proposals would be for all three seasons." 

In a statement, the MIAA said, "The championships are scheduled during a time of many events for member schools... Unfortunately, not all graduations and school event conflicts can be avoided when planning an MIAA member event with 380 plus schools."