Ohio State High School Cross country meet postponed a week....

Bad news... especially for Ohio kids who wanted to run the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest region on Nov. 11.

keenobserver wrote:

Bad news... especially for Ohio kids who wanted to run the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest region on Nov. 11.

I wonder if it was really bad enough to postpone the meet. Anyhow, footlocker is the 24th, they can run that instead.

Could they have moved to another location?

and, One has to think, that Ohio might be moved from the Midwest Qualifier the day after the State meet, to the South Qualifier. Then give more at large bids to the South if needed as Ohio would run well there.

js

Flooding on the course? Sounds like even more reason to hold the meet.

If there is flooding on the roads in the area, then that's a different story.

jim spivey13 wrote:

Could they have moved to another location?

and, One has to think, that Ohio might be moved from the Midwest Qualifier the day after the State meet, to the South Qualifier. Then give more at large bids to the South if needed as Ohio would run well there.

js

How easy would it be move to an alternate location at this late of a date?

Luv2Run wrote:

jim spivey13 wrote:

Could they have moved to another location?

and, One has to think, that Ohio might be moved from the Midwest Qualifier the day after the State meet, to the South Qualifier. Then give more at large bids to the South if needed as Ohio would run well there.

js

How easy would it be move to an alternate location at this late of a date?

I can't imagine it would be logistically easy. You'd have to deal with moving timers, merchandise, concessions, rentals (tents, port-a-pots, etc.). However, there are a number of course across the state that would make for a much better racing location than the current course. I don't believe many of them would be willing to take on the enormous task in such a short period of time.

O-H-I-O guy wrote:

Luv2Run wrote:

How easy would it be move to an alternate location at this late of a date?

I can't imagine it would be logistically easy. You'd have to deal with moving timers, merchandise, concessions, rentals (tents, port-a-pots, etc.). However, there are a number of course across the state that would make for a much better racing location than the current course. I don't believe many of them would be willing to take on the enormous task in such a short period of time.

I agree that it is a tremendous task, but there should be a plan like this in place before hand. There has to be a much better contingency plan than postponing 1 week. I understand it would be logistically challenging to move all of that to another course, but that seems much more ideal than moving the date 1 week. The kids should not be the ones suffering. OHSAA should take on this burden. Whether that is more work, or less money for the meet, or whatever. If OHSAA was smart, they would have some sort of plan like this in place beforehand. Guarantee there are family, parents, coaches and even qualified athletes who can no longer compete at State due to this change.

Absolute failure by the OHSAA and National Trail Raceway.

They don't care about the course. Most of the parking is in grass. No parking means no gate income.

First state meet I'll miss in 15 years as I'll be running an ultra that day.

jim.spivey@comcast.net

wrote:

What have different coaches and athletes done, when a race was canceled? Interesting to see the different thoughts for a Saturday workout.

I like the in and out mile - Run 400 relaxed, 400 good pace, 400 relaxed, 400 good.

J Spivey

I've experienced track meets being canceled for weather, but that is last minute and you can't sub in a workout until the next day. These Ohio coaches could have switched out today's afternoon practice to something harder or tomorrow's.

Based on the course conditions I would recommend a tempo run somewhere muddy or possibly a pool workout :)

O-H-I-O guy wrote:

Luv2Run wrote:

How easy would it be move to an alternate location at this late of a date?

I can't imagine it would be logistically easy. You'd have to deal with moving timers, merchandise, concessions, rentals (tents, port-a-pots, etc.). However, there are a number of course across the state that would make for a much better racing location than the current course. I don't believe many of them would be willing to take on the enormous task in such a short period of time.

It would be near impossible to move this meet.

The problem is that it has to be a place that can handle the parking for spectators. National Trail Raceway is jam packed on state meet day, and the traffic is horrible in and out even with police directing traffic. There are some great cross country courses in Ohio...Cedarville for example, but they simply can't handle the parking...not in an all divisions in one day format.

Can't go back to Scioto Downs either for the reason they left -- gambling.

Oh...and cancelling because of the flooding...it's because that's where people park...on the grass. With all the rain we have had this last week and still coming through Saturday, everyone without a 4x4 would get stuck, and even some of them likely would. Could actually be a dangerous situation if someone had a medical emergency and needed to get out quickly.

Disappointing that it had to be postponed, but I don't see an alternative.

Also, I think it is ridiculous to expect OHSAA or National Trail Raceway to have another site they can just go to at the drop of a hat. They have discussed possible new venues for years, and given time to scout other locations, they haven't been able to find one suitable. Beyond unreasonable to expect they could just go run this somewhere else.

I did not think it would be easy, but I was not giving it a lot of thought either. Tough situation.

You are right...tough situation. Glad my kids are out of high school and don't have to deal with that.

Mehock was cancelled my junior year 1982. That wasn't rescheduled. Looking through their results, I see Ben Johnson holds the Mehock record for the 110m dash. I doubt his 11.3 time will ever be broken!!

I disagree entirely that this was the only alternative. If you take on hosting the State Cross-Country Championship, it is your burden to bare if something like this happens. Instead, they have moved the burden on all the athletes and coaches.

There are so many layers behind why this is an absolutely horrible decision:

1.) It should never have been moved to National Trail Raceway. Period. Such a terrible place for cross-country. I understand the appeal of the facility being fenced in and the grandstands and the parking. There are other facilities with those same amenities in the state of Ohio, and those places can actually have a proper cross-country course. You would never, ever want to race at National Trail if the State Meet was not there. And It has not rained THAT much in Ohio this week. The city of Columbus is not flooding. It's not an emergency situation. If that facility cannot handle this much rain, then it cannot host a cross-country meet.

2.) They absolutely should have had some sort of contingency plan, some sort of backup course for emergency purposes. Ideal is another course nearby, but if not, then you move it to one of the 4 regional sites. How you can be in charge of an event this big and this important and not have some sort of plan is pure incompetence and negligence.

3.) Even without a plan, this was a terrible decision. Finding a new course would have been ideal. I know for a fact if they reached out, one of the 4 regional sites, another site in Columbus, or even a District site, could have hosted this meet. I think everyone agrees (and would even be understanding) they would rather keep the same date and travel somewhere else than postpone one week.

4.) They absolutely butchered telling us. It was not official until 1 PM on Thursday. Way too late. If this was ever a possibility, we should have heard about it Sunday/Monday. They cannot make this call less than 48 hours before the meet. On top of that, everyone spent 3 hours freaking out over the rumor, and OHSAA said nothing. Unreal.

The guy in charge of the meet needs to be fired. Your entire job is to make sure this meet runs well, and you have completely failed. The only world this makes sense in is if your top priority was making sure National Trail Raceway made money. It’s a disgrace the coaches do not have more weight in voting this meet out of there. The only silver lining is if we never have to be at National Trail Raceway ever again after this year.

Good luck to all of the athletes and coaches next weekend now. They deserve better. This will truly be a test of which team is physically and mentally the toughest!

Mehock is my high school! It used to be such a great meet in the 80s and 90s. They just resurfaced the track and it is amazing. Probably the only 10 lane tack in Ohio. I still do my track workouts there.

There has to have been other venues in the state that could have and would have loved to host this meet with a few days prep time.

Why don't we just take the OHSAA XC course...

And push it somewhere else!

Nice post. Thanks for contributing, Jim. I love these behind the scenes stories.