A clerical error has sidelined a Massachusetts high school senior track star from running in a state championship Thursday night.
For 18-year-old Rhiannon Vos, the race would have been her last representing Monomoy High School in Harwich.
"I went to a district meet last Thursday, ran a qualifying time, and then my athletic director put in the time incorrectly from a few months ago," said Vos.
She and her mother say the school admitted that error to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. They were hoping an honest mistake would be taken into consideration and that she would get to run at the state championship race in Fitchburg.
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State Rep. Steven Xiarhos, R-Barnstable, says the school reached out to him Wednesday asking for help with the MIAA in advance of the race, asking for help convincing the organization to look at the facts and make an exception for Vos.
"Yeah, a mistake was made, but let's not make another one," said Xiarhos. "This girl should run. She's an honor student, she's going to run in college, and this is her last run and she earned it."
Xiarhos asked the MIAA why she couldn't run even after the mistake was admitted.
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"Now, they're kind of stuck with 'If they make an exception for one, they have to for someone else,'" the representative said.
"If you spend months doing something and you qualify, then you expect to go," Vos said. "I think they should just try and think about the kids a little bit more."
Vos says she hopes this never happens to another kid, and if it does, she feels the MIAA should bend the rules a bit.
NBC10 Boston reached out to the MIAA several times for a comment about the decision, but has not heard back.
