Southern Mississippi coach Kevin Stephen replies to post regarding Andrea Geubelle...

Kevin Stephen (left/photo courtesy Southern Mississippi sports information), the head coach at Southern Mississippi, posted on the reply section a response to my post and interview with Curtis High School and University Place resident Andrea Geubelle, whose fourth round mark of 46-11 3/4 (14.32m) in the triple jump at the NCAA championships in Des Moines on Saturday was wiped out after the conclusion of the event.

He writes, "At the instant of the jump there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that the official on the board missed the foul. I made the decision to protest less than two minutes after the jump. The protest was on file less than seven minutes after the jump. I personally informed my counterpart at Kansas about the protest. We sat together when the NCAA rep informed us of the decision. We were told that three officials independently reviewed the film and all ruled that it was a foul. My counterpart asked if he could see the film but was told that it was against policy. We were told, "The three officials each said the foul was very clear and couldn't see how the official on the board missed it."


The student athlete with the longest legal jump won the event.


The most unfortunate part was that Andrea was not informed until after the end of competition. She is an outstanding athlete with a bright future."