Desperate times call for desperate measures as rain wrecks districts

    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 meet director Shawn Cole had a plan for inclement weather during last Thursday’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-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’ 3,200-meter run.
    Everyone was sent back inside and a coaches meeting was held.
    CCS Head Boys Track Coach Carl Zuege said the rain had set in for the night. The real question was which location would provide the best opportunity to finish the meet.  
    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 School 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 that wanted to stay in Grant.
    Cole said there were drawbacks to having GVFD 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 3,200-meter run was completed, as well as the prelims of the 200-meter dash, before a scheduled 30-minute break.
    “Things were happening quickly,” Hauxwell said.
    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 would only have 20 minutes between the completion of the 3,200 and the start of the 800 and CCS coaches were 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.
    Hauxwell said he applauds all the meet officials for the decisions they made.
    “They were looking out for the kids,” Hauxwell said.
    Zuege echoed the sentiment.
    “We are very appreciative of Shawn Cole, Jayson Bishop and the crew at Perkins County for their hard work getting this meet completed, as well as Scott Rezac and the coaches at Ogallala for accommodating us after the move. A LOT went into completing that meet,” Zuege said.
Unique move
    Neuhaus of the NSAA 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 Thursday’s meet, Neuhaus said he talked to Cole about their options before deciding that finding a new location with lights was 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.