Four field events, two relays, two preliminary hurdle races and a pair of prelims were completed before meet managers Ed Crawford, Kenny Beard and Troy High School athletic director Jeff Sakal made the decision to clear Troy Memorial Stadium.
The venue was not hit with heavy rain and hail, which pounded other areas of the Miami Valley. But the threat of serious weather was all over the radar in and around Troy.
Some spectacular lightning dancing across the sky automatically added 30 minutes to the wait.
After nearly a two-hour delay, the decision was made to suspend the high school track and field regional until Friday.
Field events, including the completion of the boys pole vault, will begin at 3 p.m. The remaining running and relay prelims will start at 4 p.m. with running finals scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Rain check tickets issued Wednesday to re-enter the stadium will not be honored for Friday’s meet.
The top four finishers in each event advance to the state D-III (small school) meet June 3-4 at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Stadium in Columbus.
“It would have to be at least 8:30 p.m. before we could have started our next race,” said Crawford. “We might not have finished because the Ohio High School Athletic Association won’t allow any events at regional meets to start after 10 p.m. Plus the weather radar was showing more big storms coming. We felt it was prudent to get the teams on their buses and get them home.”
Fort Loramie and Minster were the winners in the two 3,200-meter relay finals which were run.
The Loramie team of freshmen Meg Westerheide and Tara Luebke, sophomore Selene Waters and senior Janel Olberding led almost all the way to post a winning time 9 minutes, 37.43 seconds. They were followed by Minster, Versailles and Ottoville.
Minster’s crew of seniors Oliver Barga and Oliver Weaver, junior Francis Slonkosky and freshman Andy Albers worked their way up from seventh after the first leg to take the lead with one lap to go. Their first-place clocking was 8:12.05.
About the Author