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2019-2023 Arkansas High School Cross Country/Track and Field

Started by RATTLER43, January 10, 2019, 11:52:00 am

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RATTLER43

January 10, 2019, 11:52:00 am Last Edit: September 08, 2022, 11:01:39 am by RATTLER43 Reason: We have begun a new season.
I guess we can start a new one. Been a few years since we had a big dog thread going.  Hoping some oldtimers along with some young pups come on board to bring back good conversation, info, stats, and to help grow a great sport!   Here is to 2019 being a great year!

AT

Arkansas starts with their first indoor invitational tomorrow. High schoolers, who are invited, will run on Saturday.

RATTLER43


AT



RATTLER43

.... Kelsey Herman is listed!  Hoping for a breakout season for her to go along with Payton, Lexi, and Tori ...

Also see Freier listed!    This could be a great year!

RATTLER43

Read where England got 2A bid for state. Can anyone confirm?

HorseFeathers

Quote from: RATTLER43 on January 10, 2019, 05:43:37 pm
Read where England got 2A bid for state. Can anyone confirm?

They did ...
Meet of Champs--Lake Hamilton
1a---Mineral Springs
2a-- England
3a-- Green Forest
4a -- Batesville
5a & 6a-- Lake Hamilton

beach bum

Not going to lie...... HF da man for posting all these spring sites for what seems like all the sports. It's greatly appreciated!

beach bum

Also, unless they got a track recently that I do not know about is Green Forest hosting at Eureka's track? If so I probably will attend that meet. I know GF used to do that in the past, but I did not know if they have their own track yet?

RATTLER43

Quote from: HorseFeathers on January 10, 2019, 08:43:08 pm
They did ...
Meet of Champs--Lake Hamilton
1a---Mineral Springs
2a-- England
3a-- Green Forest
4a -- Batesville
5a & 6a-- Lake Hamilton

Thank you.

groundhawg

Why is 5A/6A combined? Will they have separate races? One overall winner or one winner for each class?

beach bum

January 11, 2019, 07:19:38 pm #12 Last Edit: January 11, 2019, 07:32:04 pm by beach bum
Quote from: groundhawg on January 11, 2019, 05:37:17 pm
Why is 5A/6A combined? Will they have separate races? One overall winner or one winner for each class?

It's always been this way just for indoor.... I do not like how they split the new format.... With 4A gaining 16 larger schools from compared to the last decade the 1A and 2A schools have no business running with some of these 4A schools. Also, the old 1A-4A meet took entirely too long and will only be longer with the addition of 16 programs. I hope they start this an hour or 2 earlier if any AAA people have the slightest bit of intelligence.


As for 5A and 6A this makes it more competitive actually from previous years where 5A-7A ran together. This in fact takes those sixteen smallest 5A schools from previous years I just talked about, and now instead of them running with 7A schools they get to run against 1A and 2A schools cause they are 4A now instead of 5A cause the restructure this cycle. Rattler will tell you this took what already was an uphill battle for small schools and made it even harder adding them into the 1A-4A mix


Trackster and Rattler can also attest outside of the 7A big dogs in a certain area(let's say the Bentonville and Fayetteville distance guys just as one example) .... That 5A and 6A is pretty competitive in the middle of the pack and will be fun to watch. Those 5A guys will hang just fine outside of the couple really, dominant folks from 6A


As of right now indoor is 1A-4A(gag) and 5A/6A.... 1A-4A run together and 5A/6A together

HorseFeathers

I don't think 5a &6a are combined....Lake Hamilton just somehow wrangled both meets(is that the right wording? Never followed track, or even posted on this board until that earlier post haha)

beach bum

January 11, 2019, 08:41:23 pm #14 Last Edit: January 11, 2019, 08:47:40 pm by beach bum
Quote from: HorseFeathers on January 11, 2019, 08:37:58 pm
I don't think 5a &6a are combined....Lake Hamilton just somehow wrangled both meets(is that the right wording? Never followed track, or even posted on this board until that earlier post haha)


Well I feel like a dummy cause I thought he was talking about indoor. Had I done what normal people do and just read above that LH is hosting 5A and 6A for outdoor then I would have seen what he was talking about.


Outdoor should be separate for 5A and 6A cause they have never combined classifications for outdoor, but I am still grumpy about how they split indoor so my rant doesn't change there  ;D


If they did combine 5A and 6A that would be something cause it has not be done before and seems unnecessary. I understand the indoors combined cause they use the U of A track and that's a special ordeal, but outdoor would be whole new territory if they did.

HorseFeathers

Quote from: beach bum on January 11, 2019, 08:41:23 pm

Well I feel like a dummy cause I thought he was talking about indoor. Had I done what normal people do and just read above that LH is hosting 5A and 6A for outdoor then I would have seen what he was talking about.


Outdoor should be separate for 5A and 6A cause they have never combined classifications for outdoor, but I am still grumpy about how they split indoor so my rant doesn't change there  ;D


If they did combine 5A and 6A that would be something cause it has not be done before and seems unnecessary. I understand the indoors combined cause they use the U of A track and that's a special ordeal, but outdoor would be whole new territory if they did.

Maybe they were willing to don't cause between the 2 classes they're still not bigger than the smaller ones? 🤷 Who knows...LoL...Lake Hamilton wasnt the only one to bid on 6a...I forget who the other two were

AT

6A Boys Preseason Rankings:

1. Bentonville - 115
2. Conway - 92
3. Springdale Har-Ber - 84
4. Fayetteville - 67
5. Bentonville West - 56
6. Rogers - 52
7. Little Rock Central - 43
8. Bryant - 30
9. North Little Rock - 26
10. Springdale - 25

friscokid


SouthpawSensation

Quote from: HorseFeathers on January 11, 2019, 08:37:58 pm
I don't think 5a &6a are combined....Lake Hamilton just somehow wrangled both meets(is that the right wording? Never followed track, or even posted on this board until that earlier post haha)
It will be two separate meets, held on the same day at the same location ... two boys state champions and two girls state champions. There will be no prelims earlier in the day.
It's something track coaches have wanted to do, but Lake Hamilton was the first to take the next step. It made a bold bid and went to the AAA meeting to defend it.
It caught 6A off-guard and made a few people upset because they just thought the 6A meet would go to a West school (Rogers Heritage) like it's always done because it was at a Central school (Bryant) last year. Rogers didn't even have a rep at the AAA meeting, so it goes to Lake Hamilton.

SouthpawSensation

Quote from: beach bum on January 11, 2019, 07:19:38 pm
It's always been this way just for indoor.... I do not like how they split the new format.... With 4A gaining 16 larger schools from compared to the last decade the 1A and 2A schools have no business running with some of these 4A schools. Also, the old 1A-4A meet took entirely too long and will only be longer with the addition of 16 programs. I hope they start this an hour or 2 earlier if any AAA people have the slightest bit of intelligence.

The AAA won't step in on this because indoor track is not a sanctioned sport in Arkansas. The meet is run by the Arkansas Track Coaches Association, but they are at the mercy of the University of Arkansas. The meet can't start until the UA teams have completed their practice sessions that day.

OrangeCrush.

John McDonnell used to work with the high school coaches and tell them you have your meet when you want and we will get out of the way. The current coach I've heard is a jerk about the high school meet being there.

RATTLER43

Quote from: SouthpawSensation on January 20, 2019, 08:28:47 am
It will be two separate meets, held on the same day at the same location ... two boys state champions and two girls state champions. There will be no prelims earlier in the day.
It's something track coaches have wanted to do, but Lake Hamilton was the first to take the next step. It made a bold bid and went to the AAA meeting to defend it.
It caught 6A off-guard and made a few people upset because they just thought the 6A meet would go to a West school (Rogers Heritage) like it's always done because it was at a Central school (Bryant) last year. Rogers didn't even have a rep at the AAA meeting, so it goes to Lake Hamilton.

No prelims?   Wow!
Which part have coaches been wanting to do?
Two meets at same site on same day is nothing new.  A and AA have done it a few times including last year at Mineral Springs and before that at Hendrix.  I even remember Class B with a larger group back in 85 or 86. 
I enjoy combined meets. Wish we had a multiple day championship with all classifications so I could watch others.  But I love it as it is now too.  I just love watching great track and field.  I believe folks will get to enjoy some great competition on a great track at LH this spring. 

sevenof400

January 20, 2019, 10:21:32 am #22 Last Edit: January 20, 2019, 10:37:45 am by sevenof400
Quote from: SouthpawSensation on January 20, 2019, 08:28:47 am
It will be two separate meets, held on the same day at the same location ... two boys state champions and two girls state champions. There will be no prelims earlier in the day.  It's something track coaches have wanted to do, but Lake Hamilton was the first to take the next step. It made a bold bid and went to the AAA meeting to defend it. It caught 6A off-guard and made a few people upset because they just thought the 6A meet would go to a West school (Rogers Heritage) like it's always done because it was at a Central school (Bryant) last year. Rogers didn't even have a rep at the AAA meeting, so it goes to Lake Hamilton.

If that is true (and I am NOT suggesting otherwise here), that brings up some interesting questions.  With NO prelims, that should mean each classification will be straight to the finals schedule.  If that is true, that puts a lot more pressure on athletes who run in multiple events because they will have less rest time, and likely have to bounce back and forth between events even more. 

One result from this should reward a deeper team as opposed to a team carried by a few individuals. 

But I am also wondering about the process to identify the finalists in each event.  Obviously, the results from the various conference meets will be used in some way/shape/form but if each running event is limited to 8 entrants, does this mean that only the top 2 from each event in 5A will advance to state? 

Hopefully, this has already been addressed....

Edit:  AHSAA posted this: http://members.ahsaa.org/public/userfiles/Track_Field/BD-Rec_2018.pdf

The track and field advisory committee recommends to the AAA Board of Directors the following number of qualifiers from each classification and conference.
Also, the recommendation is to NOT replace athletes that choose not to participate in an event.

6A 2 conferences Top 8 at conference qualify to state
5A 4 conferences Top 4 at conference qualify to state
4A 6 conferences Top 3 at conference qualify to state
3A 8 conferences Top 2 at conference qualify to state
2A 8 conferences Top 2 at conference qualify to state
1A 8 conferencesTop 2 at conference qualify to state

RATIONAL:
We are moving from 7 classifications to 6 classifications, therefore revisiting the number of qualifiers for each classification was needed. Also, this recommendation provides more equality for each classification and removes the use of alternates at the state meet.


Thoughts:

In 5A, this means 16 athletes advance to the state final meet - so the results of the conference meet are the ONLY criteria/basis on which to advance.
No more knowing that if you met a published state qualifying standard somewhere during the year that you will be at state. 

Big game changer.

Also, the state finals schedule will need EIGHT heats in each finals sprint event.
5A Girls (2 heats), 6A Girls (2 heats), 5A Boys (2 heats), 6A Boys (2 heats). 

sevenof400

To this end, I did look on AHSAA and found this info: http://members.ahsaa.org/public/userfiles/Track_Field/2019_6A_and_5A_State_Track_Meet_Schedule_Tentative.pdf

This is the schedule only and does not address the above questions.

Another concern - that might mean a LOT more people in the stands along with athletes. 
Will Lake Hamilton have sufficient space for people in the stands, around the stadium and parking? 

I do wish Lake Hamilton the best of luck in this endeavor - they have been a great host with a wonderful facility over the years and if anyone can pull this off, Lake Hamilton would be on the short list of locations to try this...

beach bum

Thanks for all you guys posting informative info.... This new classification for the "other sports" is definitely going to be a little confusing for track in some stuff until this all becomes the new norm over time..... Some crazy new changes all around for sure.  I plan on being at the 1A-4A indoor meet in a little less than 2 weeks as long as my schedule stays clear.

beach bum

What time does the 1A-4A indoor meet start this year next week? if my memory serves me correct wasn't it 4 or 5 o'clock last year?

RATTLER43


beach bum


beach bum

It's still 6 days away so it will probably be a few days before they get a more accurate view of weather.... But as of now they are showing around a 40-50% chance of snow on Friday up in NWA and I-49 from Alma to Fayetteville is not a smooth drive at all in weather let alone a bunch of kids on busses coming from all over the state. I hope it does not happen cause if the 1A-4A meet gets cancelled there are no other times to get the indoor meet in cause the U of A has it the following 3 weekends after that for the Tyson Invitational, Last Chance Meet, and SEC Indoors. Let's all wish that weather away  ;D

RATTLER43

You're welcome. 

It happened way back around 2002 or so.  I had possibly the top athlete in small school.  Hated the cancellation. 

Keep watching the forecast. 

beach bum

Changed to way to warm to be snowing on Friday in NWA..... Which is great news. When it snowed 2 days ago up here they did not have it on the forecast until the night before and it came up. But looking good now for some racing on Friday.

beach bum

February 01, 2019, 08:31:34 pm #31 Last Edit: February 01, 2019, 08:34:29 pm by beach bum
Stayed at the Indoor 1A-4A meet for a couple hours.... Honestly I was a little disappointed at the turnout. I feel like there were a lot more schools there the last couple years? Maybe I just imagined that but it seemed like a low turn out of schools as compared to normal.

-There were plenty of stand out performances, but the ones that caught my eye was the young man from Dequeen who ran 2:00 or 2:01 on the first leg of the 4 X 800 relay. He definitely can easily get 1:59 or lower as the year progresses and I'll be watching him in outdoors to see how low he can get that 800m time. Dequeen just never lets you down when it comes to them producing quality middle distance guys.

-The individual athlete that stood out in the girls side was the young lady from Pea Ridge, Winn. That family seems to never disappoint when it comes to having athletes to help Pea Ridge programs succeed. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but she is just a sophomore and was running faster than the majority of boys in the hurdles I saw until it got to the fast boys heats where they finally consistently started running faster than her. Someone with more girls knowledge on track can maybe fill me in on how competitive her hurdle times would be against 5A and 6A, but I imagine she would hold her own. If she gets good coaching, and has time for working more and more at hurdles which is a tough technique she has some serious potential in the future. I know its hard to focus on something in a smaller school when the good athletes play so many sports though. Only so much time in a day to focus the energy at multiple sports.

hogdiggity

I was at the indoor until the end.  Some very good races.  Honestly though, the indoor for a lot of smaller schools is a bit of a stretch.  Many of the better athletes dont come because basketball is still going.

beach bum

Quote from: hogdiggity on February 02, 2019, 09:05:39 am
I was at the indoor until the end.  Some very good races.  Honestly though, the indoor for a lot of smaller schools is a bit of a stretch.  Many of the better athletes dont come because basketball is still going.

I was thinking that same thing.... So many talented athletes are stretched out thin in the spring in those small schools cause they play so many sports. Even in outdoors with baseball/softball/soccer its really a crapshoot at meets until really district.

That leads me to my soapbox rant.... WHY on Earth is soccer not a fall sport?? It's common sense that it belongs in the fall better. It would balance up the spring a little more too.

sevenof400

Quote from: beach bum on February 02, 2019, 09:38:32 am
I was thinking that same thing.... So many talented athletes are stretched out thin in the spring in those small schools cause they play so many sports. Even in outdoors with baseball/softball/soccer its really a crapshoot at meets until really district.

That leads me to my soapbox rant.... WHY on Earth is soccer not a fall sport?? It's common sense that it belongs in the fall better. It would balance up the spring a little more too.

This is why I'm here!   ;D ;D

Just a disclosure here, Beach Bum - my kids were all multi sport athletes with soccer as their main sport of choice.  Of course, that meant we were playing club soccer for years....and years....and.. well you get the idea.  They also ran track as youths as well starting with our local AAU team so they developed some affinity for track as well.  The typical sports season for us was soccer (year round), basketball in the winter, track and soccer in the spring.  I say this because at first glance, I would agree with you about moving soccer to the fall.  BUT.....   

Soccer in the fall would have one big issue immediately - fields.  Trust me when I say that football doesn't play well with others in the off season so if you tried to hold soccer in the fall, you'd have to find more areas for practice. There are some football players who play soccer as well but you'll have crossover with any sport. 

I do agree with your point about balancing sports throughout the year.  Spring seems to have the most crossover between track, baseball and soccer (and of course softball for girls).  Under present circumstances in Arkansas, I don't see how soccer could be moved to the fall.  Now maybe baseball and softball?????

beach bum

Good stuff^^^

And I agree football is the reason soccer here in the south can't ever be in the fall cause they won't share the fields. And your point about more crossover with track/soccer kids cause way less kids crossover from football to soccer which is in reality why they should be at the same time cause that lower crossover between football/soccer.

My favorite from living in Florida is how crazy long their high school soccer season is and they wisely do it between late September to early March. Much cooler temps and the dry season. That's the best high school season I have ever season. I know most out west start in August even before school sometimes cause the spring out West has so much snow. March actually has the highest snow totals usually. Good stuff again though.

beach bum

And btw how about them Magazine Rattlers  ;D .... Hope you have at least got some sleep since then Rattler!

Congrats to their boys team and that young man who took individual high point marks

HorseFeathers

Congrats Rattler43! 

Actually just seen it on Twitter and came here to see if anyone had mentioned it yet

hogdiggity

Quote from: beach bum on February 02, 2019, 09:38:32 am
I was thinking that same thing.... So many talented athletes are stretched out thin in the spring in those small schools cause they play so many sports. Even in outdoors with baseball/softball/soccer its really a crapshoot at meets until really district.

That leads me to my soapbox rant.... WHY on Earth is soccer not a fall sport?? It's common sense that it belongs in the fall better. It would balance up the spring a little more too.

Our school doesn't have soccer so we dont have that conflict.  After basketball is over our baseball and softball do a good job of sharing athletes.  The issues come back a little when district and state tournaments are scheduled on top of each other.   Basketball rightfully isnt going to share athletes when district tournamenst are just a weeknor so away and region and state will follow, especially when they are competitive and could advance a ways. State will get into softball seasons a little. 

My child plays volleyball, runs track and plays softball.  It is a lot on a kid to go to track practice change clothes and go to softball practice, but we have several that do it and I am proud mine will put in that much work.   It probably hurts a bit at both sports that tjey dont get a full practice at either tho

RATTLER43

February 02, 2019, 02:22:05 pm #39 Last Edit: February 02, 2019, 10:00:14 pm by RATTLER43
Thanks guys!  Got in bed after 4 am. and was too hyped to go to sleep even then.    Never sat down for 8.5 hours at the meet I was so wired!   Kids came to compete.   Tatum is a sophomore that just works his butt off.  Great kid and great family.   I coached his dad and he was the best leader I had on any of my mens teams.   But they all work and get after it and after each other to be better. Old school accountability among most of them.    I had four of my scorers driven in by parents after their basketball game at Hackett.  Gibson won long jump and high jump and Witt won triple in a big PR.  Last year ended at 40' and started this season at 43'11".    Hyatt in throws!   Yang in hurdles!   My 9th grader could go low 11s in 3200m this season. He is just figuring it out. The mileage and speed work has been constant, but the feel for it is just now hitting.   His pacing just gets faster and faster.      I could go on and on about these kids ....   They are another special group. 

Again, thanks.   

To the earlier topic, I agree with points from all sides.  I really would like balance.  We are so small that our kids can do two spring sports but it is very difficult to get in proper practice time for each.   Soccer guys would be in great condition at least.   Baseballers have to be natural athletes to play any real role in track and field due to lack of practice time.  But, I love all sports.  Track just happens to be my passion.

I plan to enjoy this one well, but, back to work on Monday!  Outdoor is here.

RATTLER43

Quote from: hogdiggity on February 02, 2019, 09:05:39 am
I was at the indoor until the end.  Some very good races.  Honestly though, the indoor for a lot of smaller schools is a bit of a stretch.  Many of the better athletes dont come because basketball is still going.

Hit the nail on the head.  My girls had the talent to win their division as well but big scorers were playing ball in Hackett.  Two came on up but each only got in one event.  My biggest scorer is recovering from flu and had nothing left after the ball game and went home to hydrate and recover as did other athletes.   It is a bit of a stretch at our small schools to have a big indoor meet sharing athletes.   The next factor was the early date for state.  Conference games to end the season then tourney.  Tough to reschedule games to avoid state date.   
I thought it was a very top-heavy meet with some incredible performances but not the depth of some I have seen.   But, I may have enjoyed this one as much as any in the past!!!!

beach bum

Good stuff Rattler! Just goes to show what happens when you have a leader in charge who spreads positivity and cares so deeply about a program. And with that positivity usually attracts numbers. I am starting to see the key to sustaining a program long term in these small classifications in any sport is having a baseline of participation every year. I know at my alma mater participation seems to be down across the board in all sports recently and the programs are finally starting to suffer because of that. A lot easier to replace graduation every year when you have a solid base line of numbers coming back through the pipe. I think it speaks a lot to what the community must think of what you have going there. Its so rare to see a school in a rural area like that have kids come out year after year in solid numbers. Teams are strong in their numbers and common goals and its showing for you all. I hope you all go out and dominate outdoors.

RATTLER43

I agree.  Build the culture.   The most successful thing I did was to incorporate track meets into our elementary physical education program back in the early 90s.  The Little Rattler Relays are grade level competition. We had every kid participating in 60 yard dash races, softball throw, and long jump.  They got to decide if they were in the 400.   We gave awards and made it a fun two week event.  Amazing how many of those kids signed up for track in junior high over the years.    When talent is down we are competitive and when talent is up we are pretty good. 

AT

Rattler, looking at 2A boys and girls, I think your teams are competitive this year.

Can any boys team beat Earle and will Desi carry Decatur to another title? (although she has help with Meija)

RATTLER43

Earle is stacked. Junction City is always great.  We will be there. 

Maybe.   But Foreman is loaded, Quitman looks to have one more good year, Bigelow has the most talent, Danville is stacked, and my girls and Cotter are dark horses. But Melbourne is the favorite in my mind's eye. 

sevenof400

Quote from: beach bum on February 02, 2019, 10:58:55 am
Good stuff^^^

And I agree football is the reason soccer here in the south can't ever be in the fall cause they won't share the fields. And your point about more crossover with track/soccer kids cause way less kids crossover from football to soccer which is in reality why they should be at the same time cause that lower crossover between football/soccer.

My favorite from living in Florida is how crazy long their high school soccer season is and they wisely do it between late September to early March. Much cooler temps and the dry season. That's the best high school season I have ever season. I know most out west start in August even before school sometimes cause the spring out West has so much snow. March actually has the highest snow totals usually. Good stuff again though.

Beach Bum,

Our discussion reminds me about something that I think helps Vilonia be so competitive in the spring sports - our coaches will do their best to work together for the benefit of all the teams.  While soccer and track tend to have a good amount of crossover, baseball and softball do as well.  If it were not for our coaches in those sports, Vilonia would not be anywhere near as competitive in the spring as we have been over the years.

RATTLER43

This is crucial to sustained success. ^^^^^^^^

AT

I have come to appreciate Vilonia's athletic department more and more as years have gone on. I think they are trying to find a fit in football and have done a good job building up their basketball program. That stacked on top of their awesome spring sports gives them possibly the best athletic program in the 5A West.

RATTLER43

There were some great things at the meets this weekend.

Seeing a Stuttgart kid and a Nashville kid each go 6'6" was great.  High jump has been so down for so long.

It is a very technical event which requires time to develop.  Most kids in high jump now are just great leapers who aren't technically sound.   
We used to see some high 6s and 7 footers but has been a while now.   6'6" was great to see.

Not sure, but I think the last 7 footer I witnessed was Antwon Hicks from Hot Springs.  Great hurdler too.

I didn't get to witness it but read that the Bentonville kid hit high 50s in shot put.  Great mark for early February!

And the Trinity Christian and Lake Hamilton vaulters were sensational!

YSpanther

Quote from: RATTLER43 on February 02, 2019, 02:26:53 pm
Hit the nail on the head.  My girls had the talent to win their division as well but big scorers were playing ball in Hackett.  Two came on up but each only got in one event.  My biggest scorer is recovering from flu and had nothing left after the ball game and went home to hydrate and recover as did other athletes.   It is a bit of a stretch at our small schools to have a big indoor meet sharing athletes.   The next factor was the early date for state.  Conference games to end the season then tourney.  Tough to reschedule games to avoid state date.   
I thought it was a very top-heavy meet with some incredible performances but not the depth of some I have seen.   But, I may have enjoyed this one as much as any in the past!!!!
Yellville-Summit got lucky this year.  Earlier in the year Arkansas Arts cancelled on us before the season, and we never were able to schedule a replacement game for that Friday during conference season.  Track coaches decided to take advantage and were able to get more scoring, especially in hurdles because of having several basketball players with them instead of at a game. Especially in girls. 4 of the 10 were basketball girls and all of those 4 were involved in scoring points, some of them scoring a lot.

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