Seeding Basics
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Seeding is the computerized placing of athletes and relays into heats and sections. It also includes the computerized placing of athletes into field event flights.

Automatic seeding is not available without the Seeding Option. In other words, the Start Seeding button in the Seeding Menu is activated only with the Seeding Option. All other buttons discussed in this Section, such as the Scratch Pad, Preview, and Copy Entries, are useable without the Seeding Option.  

An event can have from one to four rounds. A Final Only event has one round. A Prelim/Final event has two rounds. If an event has Semi-Finals in addition to Preliminaries and Finals, then it has 3 rounds. Some events may have 4 rounds in which case there will also be quarter-finals. You specify the number of rounds for an event when you add the event to the database.

The seeding of track and field events can be a complex process. Between the various track organizations, such as IAAF, USATF, AAU, NCAA, each State High School Association, and Masters/Veterans, the variance of rules and methods for assigning heats and flights causes the number of ways to place athletes in heats and flights to number in the hundreds. MM accommodates this vast array of seeding methods through a four step process.

4 Step Seeding Process

1.   How do athletes/relays advance from one round to another?  
2.   How are athletes/relays assigned to heats/sections/flights ?  
3.   How are lanes/positions chosen within heats/sections/flights?  
4.   In what order do the heats/sections/flights compete ?  

In MM, each and every event is individually seeded according to how the previous four questions are answered for each event. This Section is designed to help you understand how to get the most out of MM's flexible method of using the four steps.

Along with the 4 step seeding process, 4 other factors must be known in order to complete the seeding process:

1.What are the randomization rules for mixing the lanes in a heat or section in an in lanes race?  
2.What is the maximum number of athletes/relays to be in any heat, section, or flight ?  
3.How many athletes/relays qualify for the next round?  
4.How many heats in finals of events with more than 1 round?