Tri State
Why the Interstate Classic was postponed
A Q-and-A session between Tristaterunnur.com’s Kevin Spradlin (TSR) and Jaime Mason, Clear Spring cross country coach and race director for the Interstate Classic. Mason and school officials made the decision early Saturday to reschedule the meet for Monday due to Tropical Storm Hanna.
TSR: Why was the meet postponed until Monday?
Mason: Many counties had already cancelled participation for their teams
because of the anticipated weather of (Tropical Storm) Hanna. When Washington
County became part of the Statewide Declaration of Emergency it became a
requirement for us to postpone. We had many teams coming from Central
Maryland...with flash flooding a concern statewide....with a good
conscience I couldn't ask teams, parents, and spectators to risk
traveling home in that. While race time may have just made us soggy, I
also would have been concerned about those return trips home in the high
wind advisory and driving rains that are in place until late tonight.
TSR: When was the call to cancel the meet for Saturday made, and by whom?
Mason: Roughly 5:40 AM. After talking with my Athletic Director, we knew it
was not only what we should do, but what we HAD to do. I had checked
the Maryland.gov website and the weather websites. We knew the first
team was leaving at 6am and we wanted to decide before they left.
TSR: How difficult was it to work with other schools so early Saturday
morning to reschedule the meet for Monday? Will you lose any schools
because of this? How many schools had signed up to come, anyway?
Mason: We had 27 schools scheduled to compete. These Cross Country coaches are
amazingly flexible people and today was a true showing of that. We were
ALL disappointed, but choices have to be made. Coaches had sent me cell
phone numbers and contact information earlier in the week, so it was a
matter of making many phone calls and leaving messages. While we
usually run in whatever weather, I think (and hope) they not only
understood, but supported today's choice. We will lose teams, which is
really sad, but whatever day we picked would have conflicts, so we just
figured to go sooner rather than later. Our own team schedule is jam
packed for the next month, so it would have been difficult to find time.
While we are sad to lose schools, we want to keep the Interstate
tradition going on.
TSR: Is this the first time in the Interstate Classic's history that you
have had to move the meet to a different day, weather-related or not?
Mason: For several years, we had the meet in October because of first play date
difficulty, this would have been (and on Monday will be) our first year
back in September. As long as I've been around (since 2000) we
haven't had to change a scheduled day.
TSR: Do you still plan on holding team practice today?
Mason: No, if we're to limit travel because of the impending weather, I don't
want high school kids, with little behind the wheel experience, driving
in it. Instead they attended a fundraiser at the high school with
their families, that benefited the Athletic Department and will be over
mid-morning. I was making and serving pancakes.
TSR: I'm wondering about the decision-making process. Do you think other
schools found it difficult to wait until Saturday morning - I'm
assuming, for the moment, that this is when the call was made - to
postpone the meet?
Mason: I know they found it difficult, because I did. But like I said, they
were very flexible, and many schools were notified before they loaded
buses, or many before they had even left their homes. While they were
disappointed, all were understanding, some even joked with me about
having a large amount of bananas, oranges, or bagels already purchased
for the day! The coaches were understanding that it was a Hurricane,
if I could predict it, I could have a new career working for the
Weather Channel or NOVA. As of yesterday afternoon, they didn't expect
anything here until later Saturday afternoon, and even at 1:00 this
morning, they were only predicting 0.25 inches here today. But....we've
been pounded since about 9:15 this morning, it's even been raining
sideways!
TSR: You've had some talented teams and runners in the past few years.
What's your roster look like this year, boys and girls, and how do you
figure the team can fare this season?
Mason: We're very "new" this year, lbest we possibly can, and in all honesty, I am really excited to see how this group does. I was looking forward to seeing how they responded to racing situations. With the weather this morning, some of those new faces might not have fallen in love with XC after this race!
A Q-and-A session between Tristaterunnur.com’s Kevin Spradlin (TSR) and Jaime Mason, Clear Spring cross country coach and race director for the Interstate Classic. Mason and school officials made the decision early Saturday to reschedule the meet for Monday due to Tropical Storm Hanna.
TSR: Why was the meet postponed until Monday?
Mason: Many counties had already cancelled participation for their teams
because of the anticipated weather of (Tropical Storm) Hanna. When Washington
County became part of the Statewide Declaration of Emergency it became a
requirement for us to postpone. We had many teams coming from Central
Maryland...with flash flooding a concern statewide....with a good
conscience I couldn't ask teams, parents, and spectators to risk
traveling home in that. While race time may have just made us soggy, I
also would have been concerned about those return trips home in the high
wind advisory and driving rains that are in place until late tonight.
TSR: When was the call to cancel the meet for Saturday made, and by whom?
Mason: Roughly 5:40 AM. After talking with my Athletic Director, we knew it
was not only what we should do, but what we HAD to do. I had checked
the Maryland.gov website and the weather websites. We knew the first
team was leaving at 6am and we wanted to decide before they left.
TSR: How difficult was it to work with other schools so early Saturday
morning to reschedule the meet for Monday? Will you lose any schools
because of this? How many schools had signed up to come, anyway?
Mason: We had 27 schools scheduled to compete. These Cross Country coaches are
amazingly flexible people and today was a true showing of that. We were
ALL disappointed, but choices have to be made. Coaches had sent me cell
phone numbers and contact information earlier in the week, so it was a
matter of making many phone calls and leaving messages. While we
usually run in whatever weather, I think (and hope) they not only
understood, but supported today's choice. We will lose teams, which is
really sad, but whatever day we picked would have conflicts, so we just
figured to go sooner rather than later. Our own team schedule is jam
packed for the next month, so it would have been difficult to find time.
While we are sad to lose schools, we want to keep the Interstate
tradition going on.
TSR: Is this the first time in the Interstate Classic's history that you
have had to move the meet to a different day, weather-related or not?
Mason: For several years, we had the meet in October because of first play date
difficulty, this would have been (and on Monday will be) our first year
back in September. As long as I've been around (since 2000) we
haven't had to change a scheduled day.
TSR: Do you still plan on holding team practice today?
Mason: No, if we're to limit travel because of the impending weather, I don't
want high school kids, with little behind the wheel experience, driving
in it. Instead they attended a fundraiser at the high school with
their families, that benefited the Athletic Department and will be over
mid-morning. I was making and serving pancakes.
TSR: I'm wondering about the decision-making process. Do you think other
schools found it difficult to wait until Saturday morning - I'm
assuming, for the moment, that this is when the call was made - to
postpone the meet?
Mason: I know they found it difficult, because I did. But like I said, they
were very flexible, and many schools were notified before they loaded
buses, or many before they had even left their homes. While they were
disappointed, all were understanding, some even joked with me about
having a large amount of bananas, oranges, or bagels already purchased
for the day! The coaches were understanding that it was a Hurricane,
if I could predict it, I could have a new career working for the
Weather Channel or NOVA. As of yesterday afternoon, they didn't expect
anything here until later Saturday afternoon, and even at 1:00 this
morning, they were only predicting 0.25 inches here today. But....we've
been pounded since about 9:15 this morning, it's even been raining
sideways!
TSR: You've had some talented teams and runners in the past few years.
What's your roster look like this year, boys and girls, and how do you
figure the team can fare this season?
Mason: We're very "new" this year, lbest we possibly can, and in all honesty, I am really excited to see how this group does. I was looking forward to seeing how they responded to racing situations. With the weather this morning, some of those new faces might not have fallen in love with XC after this race!
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