CIAC Disqualifies Xavier's Koch Over Heart Monitor

Second-place finisher at the State Open was removed for using a wearable heart rate device, a ruling upheld on appeal.

Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Running

The Connecticut CIAC disqualified Xavier junior Quentin Koch from the boys cross country State Open for wearing a heart monitor, despite his second-place finish. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Live Poll

Should high school athletes be allowed to wear heart monitors during competition?

The CIAC disqualified Xavier junior Quentin Koch from the boys cross country State Open after he wore a heart monitor during the race, despite finishing second. Xavier still won the boys team championship and qualified for the New England championship meet.

Why it matters

The ruling highlights a gap between CIAC rules, which disqualify runners for any illegal aid other than a watch, and NFHS rules used at the New England meet, which allow wearable heart monitors as long as no data is transmitted during the race. Koch's device stores information that could not be accessed until the race concluded.

Koch finished second at the State Open before being disqualified under a CIAC rule that bars any aid other than a watch. The jury of appeals, made up of cross country coaches, denied Xavier coach Chris Stonier's appeal, and it remains unclear whether the rule will be reviewed.

The players

Quentin Koch

A Xavier junior distance runner whose second-place finish was nullified after the heart monitor violation.

Chris Stonier

Xavier's cross country coach who appealed the disqualification by citing a rule he believed supported his runner.

CIAC

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, the state body that governs high school athletics and set the rule used to disqualify Koch.

The details

A referee submitted a protest after Koch wore a heart monitor, and a jury of appeals made up of cross country coaches reviewed the case. Xavier coach Chris Stonier argued a rule supported Koch, but the jury upheld the disqualification based primarily on the CIAC rule, and the violation was brought to the tournament director by an official.

Saturday: Koch wore the heart monitor at the Class MM championship meet.
Friday: Baron emailed a statement on the jury's deliberation and decision.

Season Trajectory

The NFHS clarified in 2019 that wearable heart monitors are legal when no electronically transmitted data reaches a coach or third party during the race. Connecticut's disqualification of Koch under a stricter CIAC standard now puts the state's rules at odds with the framework used at the New England championship.

Runners in Connecticut who use wearable heart monitors should check CIAC rules before competing, since a device accepted under NFHS standards can still lead to disqualification at state meets. Team scoring and qualification for later meets can change when an individual finish is removed.

The takeaway

Athletes and coaches should review both state and national rules on wearable devices before the season, since a monitor that is legal at one level can disqualify a runner at another. Clear, consistent rules would prevent results from being overturned after the race.

What happens next

The New England championship meet at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, Maine, will be run under NFHS rules, which will determine whether Xavier's team is affected by the same wearable device question.