Weather watchers: Beaufort Track Classic prepared to stage 40th edition

Though it can’t exactly be classified as come rain or come shine, rest assured the 40th edition of the Beaufort Track Classic won’t be scrubbed without exhausting every possible option.

With host Beaufort High and other schools kept off the track the past two weekends because of storm forecasts that didn’t exactly pan out, athletics director Linc Lyles said the Eagles will do everything within their power to conduct some form of meet.

“The easy thing to do is cancel,” Lyles said. “But we’re going to look at different scenarios — shorten it up, modify it, finals only. We’ll see what we can get in.”

The oldest track meet in the Lowcountry is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start, though forecasts Friday evening showed a 70 percent chance of rain in that hour. That percentage, though, drops into the single digits shortly after noon.

“Right now, it looks like our best hope now is to get started by noon,” Lyles said early Friday evening. “It could be before, it could be after.”

A total of 16 schools are entered, some from as far away as Aiken and the Columbia area. It’s a traditional showcase for Beaufort County’s top athletes, bringing all five public schools together along with Hilton Head Prep and Ridgeland-Hardeeville.

“There will be some teams here ready to roll in the pouring-down rain,” Lyles said. “We’ve got guys champing at the bit right now. You can’t take two or three weeks off in track and hope to compete well.”

The host school, which boasts the reigning Class 3-A girls’ champions, provide an apt example.

A meet two weeks ago in Charleston was called off a day before the competition, only to see no rain at the time it would have been run. Then last week’s Marwin Kline Invitational at Whale Branch was scrubbed an hour before its scheduled start, but the weather cleared up in early afternoon.

Lyles said he called organizers at both meets to get their reflections.

“None of us can predict the weather,” he said. “It’s just a gametime decision.”

Beaufort’s stadium is lighted, so competition could extend past dark if the weather allows.

The meet is expected to feature as many as a half-dozen athletes with the top performances in the state this season, including West Ashley sprinter Darrell Singleton, Bluffton thrower Neil Blanken and Hilton Head Island distance runners Ben Gilman and Danny Shaughnessy.

Singleton has the leading time in the 100 meters, covering the distance in 10.61 seconds at last month’s Sandlapper Classic. Blanken moved atop the discus chart at last week’s Bob Jenkins Classic in Irmo, unleashing a throw of 169 feet, 6 inches. Shaughnessy has the top time in the 800 meters (1:57.02), with Gilman tops at 1,600 meters (4:21.73).

Lyles also noted that Eagles pole vaulter Jackie Barnes cleared 13 feet in practice this week, which would exceed the state’s best this season.

This story was originally published April 1, 2016 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Weather watchers: Beaufort Track Classic prepared to stage 40th edition."