PIAA overturns WPIAL decision, allows Layton to run 110 hurdles
A clerical error won’t prevent Waynesburg hurdler Daniel Layton from defending his title in the 110-meter high hurdles at the WPIAL Championships Thursday at Slippery Rock University.
After a conference call Wednesday morning, the PIAA voted unanimously to grant Layton the chance to run in his best event one week after his father, who also is the Raiders’ head coach, mistakenly took him off the list to compete in the race by clicking on the wrong box when submitting a form to the WPIAL.
The decision overturns a 12-3 vote by the WPIAL Monday to not allow Layton to run in the 110 hurdles.
“I have had an elephant sitting on my shoulders over the last couple of days,” said coach Rick Layton. “I finally get to take it off. It’s been stressful. I have felt horrible. But we stuck together. We supported each other.”
When finalizing the performance list for athletes and what events they planned to compete in at the WPIAL meet, Rick Layton meant to remove his son for the 300 intermediate hurdles. Instead, when he submitted the form on his phone while leaving for work, he mistakenly removed his son from the 110 hurdles by clicking ont he wrong box.
Layton won the gold medal in the 110 hurdles in 14.73 seconds last year as a junior at the WPIAL Championships. He is the runaway favorite in the event with the best time in Class AA this season. He ran a personal-best and school-record time in the event at the Baldwin Invitational, finishing in 14.46 seconds. That time is nearly a full second quicker than the next-fastest time. Layton had the best preliminary time in last year’s PIAA Championships at Shippensburg University before stumbling over the first hurdle in the finals and finishing in eighth place.
“It has been a rollercoaster ride,” Daniel Layton said. “The decision was just really relieving. This was the one (race) I thought I was going to be able to come back in.”
Rick Layton realized his mistake when he checked to see if other members of the Waynesburg track team had qualifying times Thursday afternoon when the WPIAL released the final version of the heat sheets.
That’s when he first notified the WPIAL of the mistake but was told the deadline had passed and the lists were final. The district stood firm on those rules during Monday’s appeal hearing, hours after Layton received a WPIAL scholarship award at a luncheon.
“A human error from an adult shouldn’t keep a kid that’s done everything right from competing,” Rick Layton said. “I’m very happy with the outcome. The PIAA was very supportive and open. I made the mistake. Nobody else. The WPIAL has their procedures and policies it has to follow. I don’t fault them for that, but when you have a system that involves human beings there will always be errors. We have to find ways to overcome those errors.”
Rick Layton said he plans to write a letter apologizing to the WPIAL for the mistake and thank it for what it does. He also plans to include ideas to make the system a little better to avoid a similar situation from happening in the future.
“It’s relief more than anything. Joy for sure,” Rick Layton said. “It was the event Daniel was most looking forward to. He wanted the chance to redeem himself after what happened last year (at the PIAA Championships).”
Layton was also removed from the 300 hurdles. He will compete in the 110 high hurdles, pole vault and 1,600 relay.
“My dad has been taking this pretty hard,” Daniel Layton said. “The whole thing has put pressure on me to win the WPIAL and hopefully win states. I have been working really hard this past year to do both.”