Guess What Happened to Me Today? - October 2024

Editor’s Note: This column features out-of-the-ordinary events that occur to high school athletic directors, school administrators and performing arts educators during the course of their day’s work. If you have encountered an event that clearly strays from the daily plan, please send your information in 200 words or less to Bruce Howard at bhoward@nfhs.org.

It will forever be remembered as the night that the lights went out in Winona.

The memorable night started out in rather ordinary fashion. It was a typical Tuesday in the spring. Our baseball team was at home; the softball and tennis teams were on the road.

My focus was on helping our track and field teams host the Minnesota State Track Coaches Association True Team section meet at Paul Giel Field, our home facility. Like we all do in the spring, I was checking the weather forecast often. There was a threat of severe weather later in the night, but forecasters gave us enough of a window to believe we could get the meet in.

Everything started well. The field events started at 2:45 p.m. The running events started at 3:30.

We have hosted the true team meet the past few years, so we knew what to expect. It takes a lot of people working together to make it happen, and I have to give credit to our coaches for working so hard to make it seamless.

But there was nothing they could do about the weather.

There were two separate lightning bolts about an hour apart, each causing an hour delay. Thankfully, we have two nearby buildings we can use to shelter athletes — our alternative learning center and an elementary school. So, the athletes didn’t have far to go for the two delays.

Once the weather cleared, we were treated to a beautiful sunset. If you have never been to Paul Giel Field before, the surrounding bluffs create a stunning backdrop to our track and field meets, not to mention our football and soccer games.

One by one, the events wrapped up — albeit a few hours later than planned. At about 10:50 p.m., we started the first heat of the boys 4x400. When it ended without issue, we had just one race left, then we could hand out some trophies, pick up the equipment and get everyone home.

The second and final heat of the 4x400 started without incident. The first two runners finished their laps, and the third leg was just underway when the lights went out.

My heart sank. We forgot about the timer.

Our lights are set by a computer, sometimes weeks before the event. Our normal light routine for a track meet is to turn them on an hour before sunset and turn them off at 10 p.m. Normally, this would give us plenty of time to finish a meet and put everything away before the lights turn off. In the excitement of the meet, especially the final race, I never looked at my watch to see what time it was.

I was near the pole vault pit on the backstretch of our track. I knew right away that it would be 15 minutes before the lights could power back on again. Great, another delay, I thought.

Instead of a delay, a bit of creativity from those in the infield and some strong will and determination from the runners created a lifelong memory for those who were there.

The runners never stopped. They kept going. Almost immediately, everyone on the infield and the outer part of the track turned on their cell phone lights. Before I could fix the problem, the athletes solved it for us.

There was enough light not only for the runners to finish the race, but also for the timers to continue timing the race. By the time the lights came back on, we presented the awards, put everything away, and took a breath, thankful that the athletes saved the day.

Videos and photos spread on social media. There is a community that forms at these large track and field meets, and that community came together when our athletes needed it the most.

Anyone there that night will not forget that race. And, hopefully, I will never forget to check my watch to make sure the lights stay on next time.