Heavy rain, strong winds and lightning made it impossible to hold a track meet on Thursday afternoon/evening at Rock Chalk Park.
Thus, the first day of the NCAA West Prelims were beset with delays until first day’s action was officially postponed at 6:53 p.m.
“We got about 2/3 way through the men’s hammer and women’s javelin and that is it,” a Kansas University official stated. Those two events started at noon.
“Nothing else has been completed or started,” the official added.
The men’s and women’s pole vault have been moved to Anschutz Pavilion today and will start at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. respectively. The women’s 10K will be held bright and early at 8 a.m., with the men’s 10K to run at 8:40.
At various junctures after 5 p.m., Rock Chalk Park was closed to fans who waited in their cars for a fierce storm to pass through town. The storm knocked down various tents at the facility, including some camp areas for teams. No injuries were reported, KU officials said.
Go to KUathletics.com for a revised schedule for the meet which runs all day today and will conclude Saturday.
Twitter updates on the meet will be available all day at @KUtrack.
This meet will serve as one of two qualifying events for the NCAA Outdoor Championships to be held June 8-11 in Eugene, Oregon.
KU is hosting for the first time since the current qualifying format began in 2010. The other half of the nation will compete in Jacksonville, Fla., for the NCAA East Preliminary being held at Hodges Stadium and hosted by North Florida.
The Jayhawk boast 32 entries between the men’s and women’s teams. The KU men feature 16 athletes and a relay team totaling 17 entries into the meet, while the Jayhawk women have 11 athletes and two relays for 15 entries.