Officials Tentatively Reschedule HS Track Meets
UIL, Special Olympics Texas call off events
Updated 6:24 PM CST, Thu, Apr 30, 2009
Texas officials are postponing all public high school athletic and academic competitions until May 11 because of the swine flu outbreak.
But the University Interscholastic League said Thursday it was tentatively rescheduling its regional track meets, after earlier eliminating the competitions.
The regional meets will begin May 12 for some divisions. Click here to view the schedules.
The state track meet will be held June 5-6 at Myers Stadium at the University of Texas at Austin.
On Wednesday, the UIL suspended the baseball and softball seasons. Charles Breithaupt, UIL executive director, said officials acted on the recommendation of public health officials.
The state golf and tennis championships are scheduled to begin May 11.
All UIL academic competitions, including the state meet that was to begin May 7, are also postponed and will be rescheduled later.
Meanwhile, private schools leagues were divided on what to do.
In a statement on its Web site, the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools said spring playoffs "remain intact with no changes."
But TAPPS officials also said athletes and schools may choose not to play because of health concerns. The TAPPS track meet is scheduled for May 8-9 at Baylor University.
Another group of 18 private schools in Texas and Oklahoma, the Southwest Preparatory Conference, canceled all events for Thursday and Friday. The group's directors planned to meet Thursday to decide further action.
In other sports-related cancellations, Special Olympics Texas canceled the Spring Games scheduled for this weekend.
In a statement, Margaret Larsen, president and CEO of Special Olympics Texas, called the cancellation a "disappointing but necessary step."
"The health and safety of our Special Olympics Texas family is our first priority," she said.
Athletes who planned to compete in the Spring Games will still be eligible to compete in this year's Summer Games, which will be held May 21-24 in Arlington.
Lita Beck contributed to this report.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Dallas-Fort Worth
First Published: Apr 29, 2009 11:56 AM CST
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