RAIN DELAY:

By Diane Stamm

Grant Tribune-Sentinel

There’s always a backup plan. But what happens when the backup plan needs its own backup plan?

Perkins County Schools and Class C9 district track meet director Shawn Cole had a plan for inclement weather during Friday’s track meet that included opening up the school to get everyone indoors.

Second session field events were moved up and started immediately after the first session field events.

Athletes made it through the prelims of the 100, 110 meter hurdles and 100 meter hurdles, but Cole didn’t waste any time moving athletes and fans into the school gym when lightning started before the 400 meter dash.

The real problems started when a second weather delay was called after the girls 3200 meter run.

Everyone was sent back inside and a coaches meeting was held.

With it being a sure bet that the meet wouldn’t wrap up before dark, options were discussed, including bringing in Grant Volunteer Fire Department trucks to light the track, which doesn’t have its own lights.

Cole said Nebraska Schools Activities Association Assistant Director Nate Neuhaus said to find a track with lights and move the meet there.

At around 3:30 p.m. it was announced the meet would be moving to Ogallala where lights were available. The Indians were two days removed from hosting the B6 district.

Chase County and Perkins County were two of the three schools who wanted to stay in Grant.

Cole said there were drawbacks to having GFVD bring trucks in, including setup time and its ability to shine lights on the entire track.

One of the bigger obstacles of moving the meet was moving the timing system.

Cole said Jayson Bishop, who was running the timing system, was even-keeled about the decision and the new starting time was mostly set to give Bishop the time he needed to get packed up and then set up again on the Indians’ track.

The timing system was using three finish lines and cameras at Grant but only one was used in Ogallala.  

Familiarity with the Ogallala facilities helped Bishop know where he wanted everything.

“Luckily, Ogallala had a spot indoors to set up the computers and printer system so that part could be out of the wind and rain,” Bishop said.

Everyone involved was grateful to Ogallala Schools and its Activities Director Scott Rezac for their willingness to help.

Bishop thanked Rezac and other members of the Ogallala staff who helped when he arrived to set up and stayed to help pack things up again when the meet finished.

Events were scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start in Ogallala, but lightning delayed that by 15 minutes.

The 3200 meter run was completed, as well as the prelims of the 200 meter dash, before a scheduled 30-minute break.

On a day when not much was normal, the scheduled break was something athletes had prepared for and could count on.

Without the break, Cole said runners like Perkins County’s Mason McGreer would only have 20 minutes between the completion of the 3200 and the start of the 800.

Coaches were also glad sprinters had time between the 200 prelims and the start of the hurdles and 100 finals.

The meet wrapped up shortly after 9 p.m.

Cole was thankful for everyone who helped out at both sites.

“Ogallala did a great job. They opened the gym, no questions asked, and had everything out and ready for us,” Cole said.

Unique Move

Neuhaus said it isn’t unusual for meets to have to make adjustments due to the weather, but moving to a new site in the middle of a meet was definitely unique.

For Friday’s meet, Neuhaus said he talked to Cole about their options before deciding to ind a new location with lights would work best.

“There’s no play book that lays out every situation. Other districts had delays on Tuesday and Thursday. It happens every year,” Neuhaus said.

He went on to say he appreciated the collaborative efforts all the schools made to make the move work, then gave a shout out to the athletes.

“It’s a huge credit to the efforts and fortitude of the athletes who battled through and competed,” Neuhaus added.