Heat sends 8 high school runners to hospital during Irwindale cross country meet

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — Scorching heat that sent eight high school cross country runners to the hospital with heat-related illness Saturday in Irwindale is expected to subside somewhat this week, before rebounding by the weekend, officials said.
As temperatures climbed past 100 degrees Saturday, eight high school track and field athletes had to be taken to hospitals for treatment of heat-related injuries while taking part in the Don Bosco Invitational at the Sante Fe Dam Recreation Area Saturday morning and early afternoon, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatch Supervisor Kyle Sanford said. The young athletes ranged in age from 13 to 16. The extent of their injuries was not clear.
The temperature at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area reached 104 degrees by early Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office.
Chris Shockley, Athletic Director of Don Bosco Technical Institute in Rosemead, said none of the injuries were believed to be major.
He did not yet know which schools the teens who were treated attended. Dozens of high school sent runners to the event, which involved a 3-mile course.
“We’ve been doing it for years,” he said of the meet. Extra precautions, such as staffing extra emergency medical technicians were taken due to the expected heat.
The student athletes began running at 8 a.m., and the events were completed by 10 a.m.
But the early start was not enough to prevent some runners from feeling ill effects from the heat.
“It started getting pretty warm by 8:30 a.m.,” Shockley said. “That’s when guys started dropping off.”
But the EMTs gave no indication it was unsafe to continue to the race, he said.
Trainers were also on-hand to watch over the student athletes, Shockley said.
Believing the early schedule would allow the race to be completed before it got too hot, Shockley said he’d heard no discussion of cancelling or postponing the cross country meet due to the weather.
“I don’t know if that conversation took place this morning. It didn’t with me,” he said.
Following Saturday’s heat, temperatures should begin dropping by a degree or two each day, NWS Meteorologist John Dumas said.
By Wednesday, the area could be as much as five or ten degrees cooler, he said. And relative humidity levels are expected to drop, reducing the muggy feel in the air.
“We should be getting some relief on that,” Dumas said.
But the mild cooling trend will reverse Thursday.
By Friday, high temperatures will creep back up into the high-90s and into triple-digits throughout the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, as well as the Inland Empire, according to NWS forecasts.
Forecasters also made note of a slight chance of rain in the northern mountain ranges of Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire Monday.
But even if the storm does materialize, it’s not expected to be significant, Dumas added.
“We’re not looking for any big storms,” he said.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Linkedin Email