The scoring of the Indiana Division USCA State Championship Award will be from the following rules:

1. Any USCA member paddler, regardless of state or country, is eligible for the championship. The championship is based upon skill as a paddler and consistent attendance throughout the year.

2. State Championship awards are given out for the following categories all considered Open Category (no age ranges).
C-1 Men's, C-2 Men's, C-2 Women's, C-2 Mixed, Aluminum, C-2 Standard, Downriver Kayak, Sea Kayak.

3. Points are award for both placing in the top 10 of any race (placement points) and attending races (bonus points).

4. In order to qualify for a state championship, a racer must at least race in one more than half the available State Championship points races in that category. Points cannot be transferred from one paddling category to another, nor may points be transferred between paddlers.

5. Placing Points: By participating and completing a state championship points race, the finishing paddlers are awarded points based upon the following scale:

1st - 10pts
2nd - 9pts
3rd - 8pts
4th - 7pts
5th - 6pts
6th - 5pts
7th - 4pts
8th - 3pts
9th - 2pts
10th - 1pt
11th and beyond, no placement points awarded, but bonus points may be accumulated upon completion of additional state championship points races.

6. Bonus points are earned when a paddler competes in more than the required number of races to qualify for the state championship in that category. For each race beyond that number, a paddler is awarded 2 bonus points regardless of finishing position. Bonus points were created to boost attendance to all Indiana Division USCA races. With bonus points, it is possible for a paddler who paddles in all races, yet never wins, to beat out a paddler who paddles in the minimum number to qualify and wins them all.

7. Final Tally of Championship Points - upon the completion of the final state points race, the Competition Chairperson will tally the points using the following guidelines.

- Determine the amount of races equal to one more than half the available points races
- Take each paddler in each category and define who has raced in at least that many events (qualification)
- Take the paddlers best finishes equal to the one more than half races required to qualify and add all these best finishes together.
- the lower placing finishes over the required minimum to qualify are converted to 2pt bonuses, take all remaining races and assign a default 2pt value and add them to the placement points
- This will equal the total number of points earned in the category of racing

8. In the event that no one paddler achieves the minimum number or races to qualify for the Championship, the minimum number requirement and bonus points will be dropped from the calculation.  The championship will then be awarded to the paddler accruing the highest total placement points.

9. Ties: In the event of a tie, starting from the last points race in that racing season, find a race where both competitors or teams went head to head. The higher placing head to head team wins. If a tie still remains, the award will be jointly awarded.

Examples:

Paddler A: The race season has 10 races in it. The racer finishes first in all the events in the specific category. In order to qualify, they need to paddle in at least 6 events (one more than half). Taking the best 6 finishes, this paddlers earns 60 placement points. Bonus points equal to two points per race are given for the number of 6 races. They will earn 8 bonus points (4 races X 2 pts). Their total State Championship points earned would be 68 pts.

Paddler B: The race season has 11 races in it. The racer finishes dead last (and there were more than 10 boats in each class per race) in each race in the specific category. In order to qualify, they need to paddle in at least 6 events (one more than half). Taking this paddlers 6 best finshes, they earn zero placement points. Bonus points would be awarded for the remaining five races ( 5 races X 2 pts = 10 pts). Their total State Championship points earned would be 10 pts.

Paddler C: The race season has 12 races in it. The racer finishes 1st twice, 2nd twice, 3rd twice, 4th twice and 5th once. In order to qualify, they need to paddle in at least 7 events (which they did, they paddled in nine). Taking the top 7 finishes and adding their values together would yield 61 pts (10pts X 2 races for 1st places, 9 pts X 2 races for 2nd place, 8 pts X 2 races for 3rd place, and 7 pts X 1 race for 4th place). The remaining 4th place and 5th place finish are dropped from Placement Point calculations. The races apply to bonus points and are awarded at 2 pts per race ( 2 races X 2 pts = 4 bonus points). Adding the placement points and bonus points for paddler C would equal 65 pts.

authored by: Kurt Begue
Indiana Division USCA
Created: Sunday, August 26, 2001 6:35:00 PM
Modified: Sunday, February 6, 2005 7:50:00PM