Poor air quality, no Palmer Relays

PALMER -- For the first time in 19 years, Palmer High School was forced to cancel the Palmer Relays Track Meet.

The cancellation was not due to snow or rain, but poor air quality in Palmer on Saturday morning. The combination of wind and heavy sand and silt, from the local rivers, in the air made for less than ideal conditions. Local schools were already forced to cancel all outdoor sporting events on Tuesday, April 27 due to poor air quality. The Mat-Su Borough issued a warning, which prompted the cancellation of the activities.

Palmer High activities director Jim Simmons said an official warning was not received, but just by being outside coaches and officials could determine the conditions were as bad, if not worse than those of April 27. Simmons said several coaches expressed their concern and one even told his asthmatic athlete to stay at home.

"Our assessment, related to Tuesday's, was it's not worth doing it," Simmons said. "We tend to err on the side of safety."

According to Simmons the cancellation of school events due to air quality is very unusual. Simmons said the school has canceled a handful of practices -- or at worst forced the outdoor teams to practice indoors -- but in his five year tenure at Palmer, the school has not canceled an event due to poor air quality.

The cancellation of the Palmer Relays comes after cancellations of a pair of track and field meets at Wasilla High School because of poor field conditions. Local prep teams were scheduled to compete in the Skyview Invitational in mid-April, but sloppy conditions in Soldotna kept many athletes from participating. With the Region III meet just two weeks away, the local programs may only have one meet -- the Mat-Su Borough Invite at Wasilla High School on Wednesday -- prior to the region event.

"(They're scrambling) big time -- everyone's concerned," Simmons said. "We might have to throw a meet together."