Corn Palace Relays canceled due to bad weather

For the second time in three days, the 64th annual Corn Palace Relays were unable to be completed because of bad weather.

The event was postponed Saturday and moved to Monday. But with wet field-event areas and Monday’s forecast calling for rain, snow and cold weather, the annual track and field meet was canceled.

Mitchell Activities Director and track and field coach Geoff Gross said Monday afternoon that a second rescheduling was not possible, therefore the decision to cancel the Kernels’ only home meet this season was made.

“There’s no other place to put it,” Gross said. “With Easter coming up and every other meet going on, there’s not a hole on our schedule or anyone else’s.”

Gross said his frustration of not having the event stems from another day of not being able to compete in field events. Athletes on his team can keep their endurance for running events easier inside at practice, whereas keeping rhythm in the shot put, discus or hurdles is more difficult indoors, Gross said.

“The kids get bored in the gym, but so does every other team in this part of the state,” Gross said. “All we can do is make the best of a bad situation; it’s part of life.

“Everybody is in the same boat, so we’ll just have the kids continue to work hard.”

The Kernels are scheduled to compete Thursday in Pierre.

“We are still hoping to have it happen,” Gross said of what will be the fourth meet of the season for Mitchell. “Hopefully the weather breaks for a 10-hour period.”

This is not the first time the Corn Palace Relays have been cancelled, Gross added. Next year’s annual event at Joe Quintal is scheduled for Saturday, April 14.

“I can’t tell you how many times it’s been cancelled, but I think in my high school career we held the Corn Palace Relays one time out of four years,” Gross said. “The joke has always been that whenever you schedule the (Corn Palace) Relays, you can either expect a blizzard or a tornado.”

Tags: track and field, corn palace relays, sports, updates, kernels