This was supposed to be the weekend of one of the most popular and biggest meets of the Texas high school cross country season. In fact, this year the meet was expected to exceed 6,500 runners, making it the largest McNeil Invitational ever.
On Saturday, September 30, 2017, the McNeil Invitational was scheduled to go down at Old Settler's Park in Round Rock, Texas.
With the recent rain in the Round Rock area and the expected additional rain fall over the next 36 hours, the course wouldn't be in good shape. The park and recreation association did a lot to accommodate a course change, but the decision was made to cancel the meet.
With several district meets, the Big 12 Conference meet, and the UIL State meet expected to be held at the park in the upcoming weeks, the staff at McNeil felt it was in the best interest to officially cancel this year's meet.
Not only was the course factored into the decision, but parking was a big element as well. With as many teams and spectators that were expected for the event, a good amount of grass area was slated to be used for parking. Wet conditions would have made that difficult and would have further damaged the park.
