Some are already celebrating (while others bemoan) the decision of the NCAA board of directors last months to release funds earmarked for a regional qualifying plan for the NCAA outdoor track championships. I'll belive it's actually happening when I see it.

Under the current system, athletes qualify on the basis of the ranked list of their performances through the season. That means that if you're a distance runner who wants to run at nationals, you pretty much have to go to Stanford to run a qualifying time. That's how everyone else does it. More on that later.

Under the new system, athletes in each of four zones compete against each other in regional meets to decide who gets to go to the big dance. They actually have to perform well against people, instead of the stopwatch. The new setup promises a more equitable situation for programs that can't afford to fly their athletes all over the continent looking for ideal racing conditions.

For fans, a major benefit of the arrangement is the creation of these four regional meets themselves, which will produce some incredible races. Another benefit is that the number of participants at nationals is also increased, from 388 to 544.

Sure, some people are griping: the ones who thrive under the current time-trial system and the ones who have the money to invest in frequent flier programs for their top athletes.

Good riddance. Time trials don't sell. Look at the Penn Relays, and its success with the USA. vs. the World races in recent years. I don't think we'd be seeing all those attendance records for time trials. People like to see races, and to the naked eye, winning is far more impressive than running an automatic qualifier behind a series of pacesetters.

The pilgrimage to Stanford
A distance runner recently said, "If Vinnie Lananna doesn't let you run in one of his invitationals, you can forget running in the NCAA meet. How many other college coaches get the say over who runs in the NCAA final?"

Sour grapes or a valid concern? This year, of the 18 leading men on the NCAA qualifiers list in the 10,000 meters, 14 got their times at Stanford meets. Last year it was 13 of the eventual 19 NCAA qualifiers. And the man who gives the nod on who gets into the Stanford meets is Cardinal coach Lananna. Yet since he had only one of his men in the 10,000 final last year, it's hard to work up much gusto for a conspiracy theory.

To be honest, it's more concerning how poorly all these athletes perform when they finally get to the big meet. Looking at last year, the Stanford qualifying times ranged from 28:33 to 29:10. Nationals were held in Eugene, Ore., by reputation an excellent place for distance runners. And yet in the event they supposedly peaked for, the same runners ranged from 29:05 to 31:32, with none of them making the NCAA qualifying time that seemed so easy at Stanford two months earlier.

Either our college distance coaches don't have a clue on how to peak athletes or something goofy's going on. Track short? It doesn't take much of a surveyor's miscalculation to affect a race that goes 25 times around the oval. I find myself wishing that the United States pursued track certification as aggressively as the Brits do. You can access certification data for many British tracks over the web. However, in the United States, the standard practice seems to be that the track is surveyed by the firm that built it, and never again.

I doubt there is a track measurement problem at Stanford (the new track was installed in 1996), but it would be nice to have the facts readily available. In any case, fast times in March and April don't seem to have a lot to do with how distance athletes perform at nationals. With regionals sending athletes to nationals based on their end-of-season fitness, we may get a much better meet.

The latest Stanford meet
The headlines went to Deena Drossin at last weekend's Cardinal Invititational. In the midst of the best season of her life, the Arkansas alum blasted the American record in the 10K at Cobb Track, clocking 30:50.32 to take down Lynn Jennings' record of 31:19.89. In first place, Japanese Yoko Shibui ran the fastest 10K on U.S. soil, 30:48.89. Jen Rhines clocked a personal record 31:41.16.

Albert Chepkerui of Kenya won the men's 10,000 in 27:19.79. Meb Keflizighi clocked 27:20.15, the second-fastest U.S. time ever, behind the time he clocked on the same track last year. Three other Americans broke 28 minutes.

Martin Keino won the 5,000 in 13:22.91, followed by big personal records for Jorge Torres (13:26.00), Dathan Ritzenhein (13:27.77) and Jonathan Riley (13:29.15). Nicole Teter ran 1:59.76 in the 800, taking over the lead of the world outdoor list for the year. Robert Gary won the steeple in a world-leading 8:23.12.

And down in Rio
At the Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix, Leonard Byrd wowed the world with his season-opening 44.45 in the 400. The time smashed his old best of 44.83. In the 400 with hurdles, Eric Thomas ran a fine 48.36.

World half-marathon
This IAAF event didn't get much ink. Lost in the news surrounding marathon month, and perhaps suffering because of a too-crowded IAAF competition calendar, the World Half-Marathon in Brussels saw the usual suspects kick butt while the American team ran distinctly noncompetitive times. The top American man, David Morris, placed 26th in 1:03:26. Kenyan Paul Kosgei won in 1:00:39. On the women's side, Rosa Gutierrez (52nd place) led the United States in 1:16:28, more than seven minutes behind Ethiopian winner Berhane Adere. Both American teams placed 10th.

Powell's discus blast
UCLA alum Suzie Powell put her name in the history books with an American record in the discus. Throwing at the University of California-San Diego Open, Powell whipped the platter out to 227-10. That's the longest throw on the planet in the past three years and adds 11 feet to the American record.

Jeff Hollobaugh, former managing editor of Track and Field News, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached by e-mail at michtrack@aol.com.