Track and field: UIL reinstates regional meets, moves state meet to June

For most of their lunch hour Wednesday, track and field coaches around the state felt sick to their stomachs.

Citing concerns about the spread of North American flu - commonly called swine flu - the University Interscholastic League had suspended interscholastic competition until May 11.

No regional meets for track and field. No chances for their kids to peak, perform at the highest level and reach the state championships.

It only took one day for the UIL to rectify its mistake.

The UIL has tentatively rescheduled each of the 20 regional track meets to take place after May 11, and the UIL State Track and Field Championships are now scheduled for June 5-6 at the University of Texas' Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.

"We never really took any options off the table," said Kim Rogers, the UIL chief of staff. "As soon as we found out (Thursday) that the regional meets could be rescheduled, we started working on it."

Most coaches didn't realize that the first release wasn't final.

Track and field coaches around the state spent the afternoon trying to find out whether or not their regional qualifiers had a performance among the top four in the region.

Under the plan outlined in the first release, the top four individual performances in the region advanced to state.

"I talked to (UIL executive director Charles) Breithaupt early in the morning, and it was a done deal," Crane boys track and field coach Henry Anderson said. "I thought it was a done deal for a few hours."

Coaches and parents reportedly started calling the UIL to complain.

And they had plenty of reason to be upset.

Most track and field athletes don't try to reach their personal best at the district meet. Most athletes want to peak at the regional meet.

In some cases, it doesn't make sense to push to the limit.

Take Andrews senior Tomilee Loyd, who qualified for the Region I-3A Championships in five events.

Heading into the final lap of the 1,600-meter run at the District 3-3A Championships, Loyd led by more than half a lap. He still had to run the mile relay.

So he throttled down.

"Tomilee didn't have to run his best time at district to win," Andrews boys coach Chris Dulin said. "He was very disappointed when the UIL came out with its first release. His time wasn't in the top four."

Crushed under the weight of dozens of phone calls, the UIL started looking for ways to reschedule the regional meets.

Breithaupt started telling coaches that there might be another option.

Two hours after Permian hurdler Ryan McDowell realized he only had the seventh-best time in Region I-5A, Panthers boys coach Jeep Shanks told his athletes to hang tight.

"I just told them that the UIL was working on an alternative plan, that the season wasn't necessarily over yet, and if we gave it a day or so we would get another chance to compete," Shanks said.

With very little time to work, the UIL went into action. Fast.

Before noon Thursday, UIL officials had convinced 19 of the 20 regional meet sites to reschedule the track meet, according to a report by the Amarillo Globe-News.

Finding an open weekend at the University of Texas became the next obstacle, but by the time most track and field coaches around the state finished their practices, the UIL had released the revised schedule.

For the first time in more than a day, track and field coaches had some relief.

"We're getting an opportunity to showcase these girls," Permian girls coach Carl Chancellor said. "That's what this is about, getting these athletes a chance to compete."

One problem remains.

To accommodate the regional sites, most of the regional meets had to be pushed back as many as two weeks.

And that leaves a lot of practice time without competition.

"I'm kind of in shock that they pushed it that far away," Odessa High girls coach Tracey Borchardt said. "Keeping the kids focused is going to be crazy."

Most districts held their championship meets two weeks ago. That leaves four weeks between district competition and the regional meet.

But very few athletes have reason to complain right now.

Under the terms described by the original release, Laura Porras and Tynesha Gamble wouldn't have been able to compete for Permian again this season.

Porras runs the distance races. Gamble is a sprinter.

Now, both girls have a shot at the state championships.

"You can look at this as a cup half-empty or half-full, and I know we can run faster times than we did at district," Chancellor said. "We've talked about it, now we've got to go do it."

At least they have a chance.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

- TRACK AND FIELD -

Region I Meets

>> Class 5A: May 22-23, Lubbock (Host: Texas Tech)

>> Class 4A: May 15-16, Ratliff Stadium (Host: Odessa College)

>> Class 3A: May 22-23, Lubbock (Host: Texas Tech)

>> Class 2A: May 19-20, Ratliff Stadium (Host: Odessa College)

>> Class 1A: May 12-13, Levelland (Host: South Plains College)

- BASEBALL -

Regular Season Games

>> May 11: Permian at Midland Lee, 4:30 p.m.; Odessa High at Lubbock Monterey, 6 p.m.

>> May 12: Lubbock High at Permian, 4:30 p.m.