KHSAA cancels final two events of Class 3A track meet due to weather

Citing ongoing weather concerns, the KHSAA canceled the remaining two events of the Class 3A State Track and Field Championships following an extended delay Saturday night at the University of Kentucky.

At 9:04 p.m. inclement weather put into effect a 30-minute weather delay. The KHSAA asked fans and participants to leave the stands and playing area at that time.

With the continued presence of lightning in the area, the organization released a tweet at 10:33 p.m. that said competition would not be resumed. An official statement released about 10 minutes later cited NFHS Rule 3-2-5, which states that “a meet may be suspended by the games committee, in collaboration with the referee, due to an emergency such as hazardous weather conditions or power failure.”

At the time of the original delay, the final results of two events – the girls’ triple jump and boys’ long jump — were not official but were later recorded. Two events – the boys’ and girls’ 4-by-400 relays — were canceled.

Male swept both team titles. The girls’ won handily, 87-55 over Manual, while the boys finished with a 76-70 victory over Trinity.

Bryan Station’s boys finished third with 63 points. Bryan Station and Tates Creek’s girls finished in a tie for fourth place with 50 points, each one point shy of third-place North Hardin.

Tates Creek’s girls might have broken that tie and contended for a third-place team finish with a strong showing in the canceled relay, an event in which they were seeded third.

Commodores Athletic Director John Dixon was upset about the KHSAA’s decision to cancel the remainder of the meet.

“It’s shameful,” Dixon wrote in a text message to the Herald-Leader. “The kids deserve better. Some kids waited all night to run that event. … They leave all regular season games/events up to ADs and coaches and then make a decision like that tonight. It’s completely ridiculous.”

Tates Creek’s boys were seventh with 40 points and Henry Clay’s were eighth with 33. Complete Class 3A results are available at khsaa.org/track/2017/class3adetailed.htm.

This story was originally published May 21, 2017 at 12:08 AM with the headline "KHSAA cancels final two events of Class 3A track meet due to weather."