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TC Meet to stay dry despite wet weather

Deluges of rain literally put a damper on high school baseball and softball.

Moments of sun cannot save the damage done to gritty infields and grassy outfields that turn soft and muddy.

Not track and field. Not this year’s Trumbull County Meet.

Today’s meet starting at 4 p.m., has eight finals and plenty of other qualifying track events for Thursday’s finals at Lakeview High School.

Don Richards Memorial Stadium got a new all-weather track this summer, other field facilities and a field turf football surface.

Lakeview Athletic Director Ron DeJulio Jr. said the event is schedule to run today and Thursday, but accuweather.com said there is a 20- to 40-percent chance of rain during today’s events and rain scheduled for Thursday.

“They don’t call it an all-weather track for no reason,” DeJulio said. “That’s how the track committee put it to me. We will run in the rain. We will run as along as it’s above 40 degrees, so we don’t get anybody hurt.

“It’s supposed to raining tomorrow. If there’s no lightning, no threat of severe weather, we’re going to run.”

There is a mandated 30-minute delay each time an official hears thunder or sees lightning.

DeJulio said the long jump pit is tarped every day, unless it is being used. The same goes with the high jump and pole vault areas.

They’ve been covered since Saturday at noon, when the Lakeview Invitation was cancelled because of the weather.

Even the runways for the long jump and pole vault, along with the area for the high jump were in good shape, DeJulio said.

He said there are no dips in the runways.

“If it comes down to it, we have squeegees and I have people available,” DeJulio said. “If it takes me doing it to get it ready, then I’m going to do it.

“We’ll take every precaution that we have to.”

As for the discus and shot put cement throwing circles, there are two drains in each throwing circle. There are new pads, installed with the rest of the facility, for each throwing event.

“There will be no standing water,” DeJulio said. “No matter how much it rains, there will be no standing water.”

Trumbull County Track and Field Director Roger Snodgrass the track and field pretty much drain themselves.

“We’re going to go until we hear thunder or see lightning, unless we get a monsoon,” Snodgrass said. “Got to get it in somehow.”

That said, if the weather washes out today’s events, Snodgrass said there is a possibility it is moved to Wednesday, but that is very tentative.

Snodgrass added the meet needs to start at 4 o’clock to get everything in with the amount of teams and heats for around 20 schools — both boys and girls.

If it needs to be delayed or postponed, he said the referee will make that decision.

“We’re going to play it by ear,” Snodgrass said. “Go with the flow. See what happens and make decisions as we go.”

DeJulio said moving this to Friday and Saturday are not possibly since there are more than a half dozen schools having prom.

However, the likelihood of this year’s meet being delayed or moved is very slight.

“I was out there (Monday evening) after it was done raining and it was dry,” DeJulio said. “There was no standing water anywhere, except on the practice football field.

“Hopefully we’re good (today).”

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