TRACK & amp; FIELD 'Toughness factor' plays part in sport

Athletes compete no matter how bad the weather, and cancellations are rare.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
MINERAL RIDGE -- When Amy Vestal was a distance runner at Mineral Ridge in 1992, she went to a snowy meet in Salem. Looking for a way to keep warm, she walked to the middle of the football field and started writing "MRHS" in the snow with her steps.
"I was young," said Vestal, an assistant track coach at Mineral Ridge whose maiden name is Havaich. "I was having a good time."
The meet officials, however, didn't like the idea.
"They got on the loud speaker and said, 'Would the girl in the infield please move to the bleachers,' " said Mineral Ridge coach Ron Toth with a laugh.
Said Vestal: "I was just trying to keep warm."
Show must go on
Welcome to track season, when runners (and jumpers and throwers) compete no matter how bad the weather.
Well, almost.
Tuesday's downpour, combined with cold and wind, caused nearly every school in the area to cancel its athletic events -- even track.
"You don't see that a lot," said Toth, whose Tuesday meet with South Range was rescheduled for Wednesday. "That's what I love about this sport. You compete in different weather. It's a toughness factor. Rain or shine, you're out there."
Do the athletes complain?
"My kids don't," Toth said. "They're pretty dedicated. I think you have to be just to come out for track."
South Range coach Jack Nemergut agreed.
"My kids get upset when they can't get out there," he said.
Some of them, anyway. Generally speaking, hurdlers and jumpers don't like bad weather quite as much as, say, distance runners.
Then again, distance runners are an odd bunch.
"Yeah, we are," said South Range junior Dan Nemergut, Jack's son. "I love the cold. I'd rather it be cold than hot. By the end of the race, you're just warming up."
Wiped out
Even though Wednesday was sunny, most baseball and softball teams had to cancel their games because the fields are too wet from this week's downpour.
Tennis players don't have it quite as bad because the courts can be cleared -- and, if worst comes to worst, they can always move indoors -- but matches still get canceled fairly often.
Track and field is a different story. Thanks to all-weather tracks, runners can compete in almost any type of weather.
Except, of course, for thunderstorms.
"When I was running in high school, I loved the cold," Vestal said. "I would go out there in a pair of shorts and a tank top. Between the races, we did whatever we could to stay warm. We'd run in the snow and the slush. We'd jump around. We'd just act goofy."
Statisticians don't have that luxury. Mineral Ridge students Amber Brunton and Breanna Taylor sat on a park bench at Wednesday's meet in hooded sweatshirts trying to stay warm.
Do they like this weather?
"No, it's too cold," Brunton, who also had a blanket, said. "I was sitting in school [on Tuesday] praying they would cancel the meet. I didn't want to sit in the rain."
Do people appreciate their work?
"Only the coaches do," Taylor said. "It's not fun on days like this."
scalzo@vindy.com