Section makes changes due to smoke

Football playoffs postponed, cross country shortened

The Sac-Joaquin Section announced on Wednesday morning that Friday’s football playoff games have been postponed a week, and Saturday’s cross country championships will have a shortened schedule.

The changes come due to smoky air that has clogged the Sacramento and Bay areas from the Camp Fire, which devastated the town of Paradise.

Friday’s football playoff games, which are the semifinals in most divisions, have been pushed back to Nov. 23. The state playoffs have also been pushed back a week, with areas of Southern California suffering similar issues due to fires.

At Saturday’s SJS Cross Country Championships, the schedule has been shortened to just varsity races, with some divisions combined in order to get the races in under a window of what should be better-quality air in the morning.

Section assistant commissioner Will DeBoard said the section would be monitoring the Air Quality Index in the area before races are allowed to begin.

“If the AQI climbs above 150 (unhealthy range) before any races are run, we will not hold the races, instead using the times from our sub-section meet for teams to qualify for the state championships,” DeBoard said in a press release. “If the AQI climbs above 150 during the races, all subsequent races will be called off and we will use sub-section times to qualify for the state championships.”

Several local-area teams are set to compete in Saturday’s races — Lodi High’s girls in Division I, the Tokay’s boys in D-II and Liberty Ranch’s boys in D-IV. Individuals competing include Tokay’s Kari Anema in D-II girls, Lodi’s Lucas Fonda in D-I boys, Galt’s Ethan Reece in D-IV boys and Galt’s Madison Petersen in D-IV girls.

Division 1 and 2 will race at the same time, with the boys at 9 a.m. and girls at 9:35 a.m., while Divisions 3 through 5 will race together at 10 a.m. for the boys and 10:35 a.m. for the girls.

The state championships are the following Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.