This seemed to be an invitational, so the director should be able to have more leeway to make a common sense call if he wanted to.
What is really bad is missing the qualifying for the meet in New York. That can lead to some real interest from college coaches.
May opinion at this point is that the director is being a jerk.
I've seen a state championship relay team be DQ'd after the race because one of the runners had a top that was faded from improper washing. It was the same uniform, but faded and another coach protested.
That was the worst example I can think of now but I've seen a lot of similar type of BS in HS track.
It comes down to whether or not the meet director has the b@lls to confront out of line coaches rather than cower to mindlessly narrow interpretation of the rules.
The purpose of clothing rules is to avoid garish uniforms or improper advertising, to avoid gaining an advantage via clothing or to avoid deception of the competing teams.
I agree. My son ran x-country and track and they are strict about their uniforms all matching. It’s the rules. If you dont like the rules go play somewhere else. When my son wrestled during the winter 1 ref who did the skin/nails/hair check prior to a tourny would make my son cut his hair every year. No other ref ever had a problem but 4 years running he would grab an assistant coach and a pair of scissors and cut his hair. pissed him off to no end but if he wanted to wrestle that day that’s what it took. p.s. after the first year the coach would just act like he was cutting hair and when he checked back it was just fine. it was nothing but a power trip for a striped shirt.