Men's & Women's Track & Field Rules - NAIA

RULE 10 / INDOOR TRACK: FACILITIES AND CONDUCT131
ARTICLE 1. Races that may be run in single-round timed-section finals, or
with preliminaries and finals with advancement based on time only, are the
200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 meters, and 800- and 1,600-meter relays.
a. Preliminary rounds that have advancement to finals based on time only
shall be formed by seeding competitors from the performance list, left to
right throughout the heats.
Note: This seeding differs from seeding procedures in Rule 5-11 because
advancement to the finals is based on time.
Heat 1 Heat 2 Heat 3
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10 11 12
b. On a track with fewer than eight lanes, when eight competitors advance
to the finals in the races listed in this article, the competitors shall qualify
to a two-section final on the basis of time from preliminary rounds. Two
sections shall be formed by seeding competitors from the ranked list of
times, left to right only for the two sections. See Rule 10-5.1a.
c. In single-round timed-section finals, the sections shall be seeded slow to
fast and shall compete in that order.
d. In races that are run entirely in lanes (i.e., 55 meters, 60 meters, 55-meter
hurdles, 60-meter hurdles), at least the heat winners shall advance to
the final. All other qualifiers shall advance on the basis of time in the
preliminary heats.
ARTICLE 2. If preliminaries are contested in the 400-, 500- and 600-meter
dashes and six competitors advance to the finals, the heat winners plus the
next fastest times shall qualify.
ARTICLE 3. If preliminaries are contested in the 800 meters, 1,000 meters
or the 3,200-meter relay:
a. Eight competitors/teams shall qualify to the finals. It is recommended
that the top two from each heat advance; however, at least two must
advance on the basis of time;
b. Assignment to preliminaries will use the serpentine seeding procedure in
Rule 5-11.2a; and
c. The finals shall be run in alleys with qualifiers assigned to preferred
alleys as determined by the games committee.