Heat forces postponement of San Joaquin County track meet
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY – The hot temperatures make it dangerous for some high school sports. T-CAL, a cross-country track meet that was scheduled to happen Thursday, is now postponed because of the heat.
A lot of different school districts and track teams were ready for this track meet on Thursday, but they'll get another week to practice.
With this high heat in San Joaquin County, officials aren't taking any chances. The high heat already pummeling the county.
"It's good but it's really hot especially when we get out to the track," said Jessie Carrillo, a senior at Stockton's Early College Academy.
Carrillo is conditioning with the basketball team but knows the heat is another opponent.
"I always check the weather app before because I know I'm going to have conditioning and I wanna know what time it's going to be peak," he said.
Stockton Unified says they follow the CIF's new guidelines that say when it's too hot to play outside, you have to go inside.
Schools are now required to measure the heat, humidity, and other factors with a specialized tool called a wet bulb thermometer.
It spits out a number ranking that corresponds to the new CIF rules, which can determine how many breaks athletes have to take and whether they can practice with pads or helmets.
"In the Sac-Joaquin section, our area, heat is no stranger to us," said Erin Aitken, the Athletic Director for Lodi Unified. "But obviously it was a bit of a stranger to us in September, we weren't expecting this."
While the heat did cancel the T-CAL cross country meet, she says the district is monitoring other sports, so student-athletes can keep playing.
"We modify practices by having them later at night, shortened practices, not having pads that sort of things for football," said Aitken.
The district has full-time athletic trainers who are at every school, making sure athletes are in safe playing conditions.
If it's not, practice is moved or canceled.
But for Carrillo, enduring the heat is what this Stockton native is used to.
"It's tough but it's for the love of the sport," he said.
Lincoln Unified and Modesto Unified both said practices are either being moved to just a little bit later in the afternoon and if temperatures get too hot, they will move them indoors or cancel them entirely.
