For the first time in its 20-year history, the Larry Eason Invitational track and field meet at Snohomish High School was canceled.
More than 1,100 athletes from about 50 high schools were expected to compete Saturday in the Eason Invite, one of the state’s largest annual track and field showcases.
The reason for the cancellation, of course, was bizarrely cold, snowy weather. The 39-event invite was scheduled to start with the men’s hammer throw at 8 a.m. and conclude late in the evening. But as of 6 a.m., 2 inches of snow were on the track, and 3 inches blanketed the warmup space on the synthetic turf in Veterans Memorial Stadium and the adjacent throwing pits, said meet director Tuck Gionet, Snohomish High’s head track and field coach.
Runners would have had difficulty warming up for events, and based on a forecast for even more snow they would have been soaking wet all day in temperatures topping out in the mid- to upper-40s.
“We just decided that wasn’t a fair situation to put any of the athletes in,” Gionet said.
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