The 10th annual Portage Invitational was
held on Saturday October 6. The story of the day was the weather. By early
afternoon the temperature was in the mid 80s and the humidity was also high. So
many girls in the division 1 and 2 races went down due to the heat that the
county EMS system was taxed responding to medical emergencies. The boys division
1 and 2 races were each delayed almost 1 hour as medical personnel came to the
aid of the ill runners. The meet directors cancelled the JV races that were to
be run after the varsity races due to the weather (see
meet directors comments).
The other excitement for the day was the transportation
fiasco. The boys team bus broke down 50 miles from Portage. The varsity and
Coach Masters were rescued by the Althaus's and Machinski's. As they drove by
the stranded bus they were paying enough attention to realize these were their
kids off the side of the road. The boys piled into the cars and made it to the
race site with plenty of time to spare. The JV team was rescued by one of the
other team buses.
The varsity race finally started almost 2 hours late. The
runners had been held at the line in the heat for some time. Nobody complained
today that they got cold waiting for the start of the race. The team race went
as expected with Michigan #1, #2, and #3 teams Pinckney, AA Pioneer, and Saline
battling it out for the team title. Pinckney won with Saline 2nd, AA
Pioneer 3rd, and AA Huron 4th (for those of you keeping track, those last 3
teams are all in OUR division of the SEC). The Mules finished 20th out of 38
teams.
Tommy Valade led the way with a 19th place finish. His time
of 16:32 was a PR. Nick Kaiser was the next Bedford finisher. His time of 17:25
was the fastest freshman time of the day in the D1 race. The rest of the squad
really seemed to struggle with the heat and humidity today.
The JV team went ahead and raced the course when the official
races were completed. Cory Tracy was the first across the finish line.
Coaches, athletes and parents:
The Portage Invite would like to thank you for another wonderful day of
competition.
I would like to briefly address the decision to cancel the reserve races.
Up through the middle school races, we had little problems with heat related
issues. During the D2 and D1 girls varsity races, we had numerous runners drop
from the races. Several needed professional medical attention. At the end of
the girls D1 race the meet management met with the deputy fire chief and other
medical staff. The deputy fire chief did suggest that we allow the D1 and D2
races continue, but to cancel the reserve races. Following that meeting, we
met with the coaches and discussed the scenario. We did listen to the coaches
as well. At the end we as meet management decided to make a decision based
upon the safety and health of the majority of the athletes. This may not have
been a popular decision with some people, but there was also a large support
for our decision. Personally, I am very comfortable with this decision and
will not regret it.
I do not wish to continue discussion of this decision on my part. You may
debate all you would like, but I do hope that you understand how the decision
was made and why it was made. The safety and health of the runners was the
number one factor. Those of us that didn't fall due to the heat need to be
thankful for being safe.
Thank you again for attending the meet, it would not be a success without
of you attending. We look forward to seeing everyone next year.
Dan Wytko
Portage Invite Co-meet Director
