An ILH-submitted measure seeks to return the format of the state track and field meet to include a day of rest between the trials and finals. CJ Caraang | SL

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WAIKOLOA, Hawaii — The 58th edition of the Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association annual conference opened Tuesday afternoon at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Kohala coast of the Big Island.

Administrators from all of the nearly 100 member schools of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association are gathered at the 62-acre oceanfront resort to address a list of 45 proposals over the course of the three-day conference.

The athletic directors split up into four groups Tuesday, with each group conducting a straw poll vote on about a dozen proposals. Following league caucuses Tuesday evening, the groups will reconvene Wednesday for committee votes on each proposal.

Those proposals that pass out of committee will be brought to the floor for a general assembly vote on the final day of the conference Thursday. All HIADA recommendations will then be forwarded to the HHSAA executive board, which will meet Thursday evening, and can approve, deny or amend each recommendation.

Among the proposals that got the most attention in Tuesday's groups were eight pertaining to track and field.

An Interscholastic League of Honolulu-submitted measure seeks to return the format of the state track and field meet to include a day of rest between the trials and finals. The schedule was altered nearly a decade ago, largely due to statewide budget cuts during the 2008 recession.

However, the measure did not have much support during Tuesday's straw poll, according to an administrator in the closed-door session.

All five of the leagues currently utilize the National Federation of High Schools recommendation that includes a day of rest between the trials and finals, but travel costs will likely be the bottom line, the source said.

The ILH also introduced a pair of proposals — to add a 4x800-meter relay and to increase the number of point-scoring finalists from the top six to the top eight athletes. Both measures did not pass straw poll votes.

Another group of ADs voted down three separate proposals. One sought to alter the size of boys and girls Division II state tournaments depending on the number of teams participating statewide. Those sports with fewer than 25 schools eligible would result in an eight-team tournament, while those with 25 or more would utilize a 12-team format. The proposal saw only eight ADs vote in favor, while 26 were opposed and one abstained.

The same group voted 9-23-3 against a proposal seeking to seed teams in all state tournaments on a rotational basis by league, rather than by a selection committee. Also, a proposal from the Maui Interscholastic League to be included in the rotation for the Division I boys and girls state soccer tournaments was voted down 6-21-8.

The lone proposal pertaining to football is to put the HHSAA state tournament's overtime procedure in line with that of collegiate football. That is, teams would be required to attempt a two-point conversion after scoring a touchdown from the third overtime on. The measure — which came about in the aftermath of November's seven-overtime thriller between Konawaena and Lahainaluna in the D2 state title game — passed Tuesday's straw poll by a unanimous vote of 35-0.

A Big Island Interscholastic Federation-submitted proposal to split the state cross country meet into separate D1 and D2 races did not receive support and is not expected to pass out of HIADA.

Also, the third annual HHSAA Student-Athlete Leadership Summit concluded Tuesday afternoon. A total of 96 participants from all five leagues took part in the two-day summit.