Citing safety of the athletes the high school cross-country meet scheduled for today on the Iowa State University course has been cancelled. The event was to have been hosted by Gilbert and it will not be made up. Greene County was among the teams scheduled to compete in Ames, but the Rams now are set to open the 2013 season west of Grimes on Sept. 3 at the Dallas Center-Grimes meet.

Kelly Simpson is the head coach of the girls and boys cross-country programs at Greene County High School. The coach said the cancellation was disappointing because the ISU course is where the Heart of Iowa Activities Conference holds its conference meet in October. At the same time, he understood the cancellation and said it makes sense, recalling a meet at Urbandale several years ago that was held in similar conditions. Coach Simpson said medical personnel were kept busy that night with numerous athletes struggling with the conditions, so he agreed with the decision not to hold the Gilbert meet.