"There's lightning in the area, please exit the stadium," the voice of the Kansas State High School Activities Association state track meet announced over the loud speaker. Competition had just gotten underway on the first day of the state track meet after an already substantial weather delay.



I was in the long jump coaches' box watching my senior compete in his first event of the weekend. He had one jump left in the competition when the meet was delayed. As we gathered the team together, we made the decision to leave our bags, expecting the delay to be temporary. We gathered under an awning outside the stadium as the rain started pelting. Pulling up the radar, we realized the delay would be lengthy so we waited for a let-up in the downpour and hightailed it to our bus--parked ever-far away.



As it turned out, we wouldn't be allowed back into the stadium that day, except for being escorted up to retrieve our bags--something teams behind us weren't even allowed…