Upstate Eight girls meet postponed until Friday
Due to inclement weather and safety concerns, the Upstate Eight Conference girls track and field meet was postponed Thursday night and will resume Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Memorial Field in Elgin.
Elgin Athletic Director Paul Pennington and the UEC track coaches met five times in a span of an hour after the first lightning strike occurred around 5 p. m. and agreed that it was in the best interest of the student-athletes to keep them safe and postpone the meet.
“It just makes sense and we have to make a decision and it’s what’s best for the kids,” said Pennington. “It’s uncharted territory, we just have to try to get through each event.”
Pennington also said the meet will now only feature varsity events and that there is no makeup date after Friday. It will pickup exactly where it left off, starting with the 400-meter relay.
The only race completed was the 3,200 relay, which St. Charles East placed first in led by the team of Torriee Scull, Corrin Adams, Krista Fitzmaurie and Anastasia Honeq with a time of 9:33.22.
Soon thereafter, the thunderstorms came and after the first 30-minute delay, the teams were back on the field shortly after 6 p.m. But as the teams warmed up and finished the first heat of the 4x100, a clap of thunder forced everybody back to shelter.
Last year’s meet at Neuqua Valley dealt with delays but the teams were able to squeeze everything in. This time around the girls will have to prepare for a day two, which they’re not all that happy about.
“This totally (stinks),” said Olivia Griswold, who runs the 4x100, 4x200 and throws the shot put and discus for Neuqua Valley. “I know all the schools have been preparing hard all year for this meet, which is really important to them.
“You basically act like this day didn’t happen and (today) just warm up, redo everything and start off fresh.”
Batavia’s track team sounded as if it was ready for the rain, but the showers and lightning also forced the Bulldogs’ displeasure.
“It’s frustrating, but we’ve prepared for this,” said Batavia distance runner Kristin Ullberg. “We’ve been ready to compete in the rain and we would have been ready to run but we’re frustrated we have to wait until (Friday) to compete.
FVC meet postponed to Monday: The Fox Valley Conference girls track meet at Grayslake Central was postponed Thursday evening due to lightning in the area. The meet has been rescheduled for Monday at the same location. Field events will begin at 5:30 p.m. Running finals will begin at 6:30 p.m.