Above: Theresa Snow, 17, of Anderson High School rests inside a parking garage with her team mates during a rain delay on Friday at the UIL state track & field finals at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin. (scroll down for more photos)
I was sent to the UIL state track & field finals in Austin over the weekend to cover two New Braunfels athletes. I was pretty excited because I’ve never really gotten to cover a real track meet before – just field day events and sportraits of high school track athletes. I planned to get there early and stay a little late to shoot some of the other events that I wasn’t assigned to, just for fun.
On Thursday night I checked the forecast and it said rain, but you know how Texas weather is, just because the weather man says it, doesn’t mean it will happen. When I got up on Friday morning the thunder roared and rain started to fall. I packed a towel, an extra pair of dry clothes and some trash bags to cover my equipment and headed out the door.
The rain really wasn’t that bad on the way there, but once I got to the meet, I quickly realized that this was going to be one of “those” assignments. The kind where you have to wait it out and hope for the best.
UIL officials stopped all events at 10:30 a.m. and I was supposed to cover something at noon. I waited and waited and waited for the lightening to stop, but the announcer kept saying, “We are currently under a lightning warning, please seek cover immediately.” And every time another lightning bolt struck, we had to wait another half an hour for events to begin again.
I never did get to cover the discus athlete from New Braunfels. After a 3 hour wait, I had to leave for another assignment. But while I was there, I tried to capture what was happening, even if it didn’t seem like much.
A man in a rain jacket signals that he wants to buy two programs from event staff huddled under a tent during a rain delay on Friday at the UIL state track & field finals in Austin.
UIL officials look at the weather forecast on a cell phone while keeping dry under a tent at Mike A. Myers field on Friday.
A “slippery when wet” sign posted on the bleachers at Mike A. Myers stadium on Friday was most appropriate when athletes were forced to retreat from the track during a rain delay on Friday.
Irene Baker and Marijoh Hudson look for the weather radar on a cell phone inside a parking garage while waiting to watch their grandson pole vault.
I came back to the track meet on Saturday to shoot the defending state champion female pole vaulter and it was filled with controversy… but that’s tomorrow’s post…