BEATING the heat, or at least dealing with it the best they can, is a major concern of cross country coaches and runners heading into Saturday's season-opening meets.
"It's very, very early, and a lot of teams haven't even been working out very long," said Mayde Creek coach Tony Brillon, the meet director for Saturday's Katy ISD Invitational at Bear Creek Park. "We're hoping everyone is in at least decent shape or they might have a really hard time with the heat."
The field includes all Katy ISD schools, Strake Jesuit, A&M Consolidated girls, Memorial, Elsik and multiple Cy-Fair ISD schools.
The varsity boys go off at 8 a.m., followed by varsity girls, and then subvarsity races.
"We've moved the starting time up 15 minutes because of the heat," Brillon said. "That little bit of time can make a difference because it starts getting real hot real quick throughout the morning."