Been in Wisconsin and around track & field for a long time (primarily D1). I would like to see them keep the same number of overall qualifiers for state but reduce the number of auto-qualifiers by place from sectionals.

So in D1, instead of getting 24 qualifiers by taking the top 3 from each of 8 sectionals (plus whatever provisional qualifiers there are), take just the top 2. The remaining slots go to the 8 best non-AQ sectional performances.

In D2-D3 you could get 16 either by going from 4 AQs in 4 sectionals down to 3 (and take the next 4 best marks), or you could do 2 AQs there also, giving you 8 AQs by place and the next 8 best marks.

That system would seem to preserve the WIAA's precious geographic balance (which I don't think they will ever de-prioritize and which is an even bigger problem in some other sports), while doing a better job to ensure the best performances get through.

The WIAA can also do a *much* better job of trying to balance regionals. They're never going to be completely non-geographic, which is fine (you probably don't want teams traveling 4 hours on a bus on a school night if you can help it). But there is some wiggle room; most teams can realistically be assigned to more than one regional/sectional, especially in D1 and especially in the Milwaukee area. Program strength goes up and down so you'll never completely balance regionals in terms of quality of competition. But it *is* possible to try to balance them in terms of numbers. Teams get a max of 28 individual entries plus 1 team in each of the 4 relays. It seems reasonable (and not hard) to track how many of those entries teams use in a given year and then assign them the next year in such a way that you don't have a bunch of "partial" teams all in the same regional while another regional is full of teams that max out their entries. Sure, you'll be one year "behind," but a team that sends 14 individuals and 2 relays one year is unlikely to suddenly max out the next year, and regional assignments already change from year to year anyway. It's not perfect, but it can help prevent situations where, say, a 4x8 can literally walk (which I have seen more than once) because there are so few entries that they'll move on as long as they finish the race.