Day one thunderstorms change face of schedule at NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Thunderstorms passing through the Austin area caused flash flood warnings for several surrounding counties and threw the schedule into disarray on the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Nearby lightning strikes prompted NCAA officials to clear the stadium around 4:30 p.m. Qualifying rounds of the women's 4x100m relay had been completed, but the men's rounds had not started. Preliminary rounds of the women's javelin, and the heptathlon long jump were interrupted in progress.

With no letup in the rain and continued lightning strikes in the area, at 7:45 p.m. the NCAA Championship Committee opted to attempt completion of the interrupted field events (the javelin prelims and the heptathlon long jump) at 9:45 p.m. and reschedule all other Wednesday night events over the remaining three days of the meet.

The revised schedule was posted around 11:00 p.m. Wednesday night, and for distance and middle-distance runners, it made the championships into a two-day meet: Thursday and Saturday. Of the three events originally scheduled for Wednesday (qualifying rounds of the 800m, steeplechase, and 5,000m) two simply dumped the first round, making the 5,000m a straight final to be run on Saturday (as originally schedule) and the 800m a two-round race rather than three. Both rounds of the steeplechase were simply pushed back one day, with qualifying now on Thursday and the final on Saturday.

Meet management opted to take full advantage of Mike Myers Stadium's nine-lane track by setting up a nine-lane final for the 800m on Saturday. In Thursday's rounds, the men will run three heats, advancing two from each heat plus the next three fastest times. The women face a more demanding standard; with four heats, they will advance the winner of each, plus the next five fastest times. Fortunately for the athletes and the NCAA committee, nobody attempted the 800m/1,500m double this year, so there will be no conflicts between those events.

The 5,000m will be the next most affected, as both men and women will now line up for a high-traffic final, with 27 and 28 athletes, respectively, on the track at once. The two runners attempting the 5,000m/10,000m double (Robert Cheseret and Kyle Goklish, both of Arizona) are no doubt relieved to run only two races, rather than three, but the crowded conditions and extra rest will undoubtedly change the tactics of the race.

No steeplechasers are doubling, so the schedule change should not disrupt them significantly.

Another event which will see a minor ripple effect is the 10,000m finals on Thursday night. Originally scheduled for 9:25 p.m. (women) and 10:05 p.m. (men), the extra heats of the 800m and steeplechase added to Thursday's schedule will push them back 20 minutes.

With only the 10,000m final on Thursday, Saturday will be a busy day of finals.

(Updated June 10, 2004)