By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor

The UIL’s response to the outbreak of swine flu has wreaked havoc on the athletic departments at Westlake and across the state.

Based on the recommendation of Dr. David Lakey, Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, and in consultation with Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott, the UIL has suspended all athletic events until May 11, according to a press release issued by the UIL Wednesday.

The suspension will cancel this weekend’s scheduled regional track meets and will delay the start of the softball and baseball playoffs.

“The health and safety of our student activity participants is of the utmost importance,” said UIL Executive Director Dr. Charles Breithaupt in the press release. “Taking every possible precaution to prevent the further spreading of this disease is an important contribution to the welfare of our great state, and altering the schedule of our events is a way to keep our participants safe.”

That alteration has a powerful effect on all track and field regional qualifiers. Instead of the top three regional qualifiers from each event advancing to the state meet, the top four qualifiers in each event will qualify for the state meet based on times at district meets.

The state meet is scheduled for May 14-16, but the UIL will post a revised schedule no later than Friday.

The method of determining state finalists provoked an immediate reaction from several track coaches at Westlake, who expressed concern about the disparate timing methods used by districts. One coach, who requested anonymity, said that the weather would also play an unwelcomed role in determining who reaches the state meet.

At the District 25-5A meet at Chaparral Stadium April 16, for example, breezy and wet conditions helped lead to a slight drop in times in most events.

Westlake’s coaches were combing through district times and measurements in the eight Region IV districts Wednesday in order to determine if any Chaps would qualify for the state meet.

Westlake girls track coach Debbie Wingfield said she was “kind of disappointed” by the UIL’s ruling but expressed confidence that several of her athletes would qualify for state.

Wingfield said that Ashley Maton (the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs), Lexi Iverson (long jump, triple jump) and the mile relay team of Liz West, Iverson, Rachel Quigley, and Linh Tran would all likely qualify.

“We haven’t seen every district yet,” she said Wednesday. “But it’s looking good.”

Westlake’s softball team, which was scheduled to open the playoffs against New Braunfels Friday, won’t start the postseason until the week of May 11. Only three days will be allowed between playoff rounds, which will likely force the Chaps and other playoff teams to compete in one-game series.

Baseball will suffer a similar fate. The District 25-5A champion Chaps, who will now close out the regular season May 11 against Akins, will likely begin the playoffs May 16. Westlake will likely engage in one-game series instead of the customary three-game series, because most coaches will likely avoid a Friday game followed by a Saturday doubleheader.

The agency also suspended non-athletic events, including the Academic State Meet and the Texas State Wind Ensemble festival.

The state tennis and golf tournaments scheduled for the week of May 11-15, which both include Westlake participants, will not be affected.