When the lights died. Fans lit up the Winona high school track. Dozens of cell phone became lighthouse beacons to guide runners back on course and to the finish line.
Who pulled the plug? How did this happen?
WINONA, Minn. — Halfway through the boys 4×400-meter race, the last event of the meet, the lights at Paul Giel Field shut off. It was mayhem. Blind to where they were heading, runners veered and stumbled full-throttle off course. But before runners got too tangled, a trackside spectator switched on a cell phone. Dozens of other fans got the cue and did the same. Nobody was injured. Thus the 2024 1AA high school track sectionals in Winona unexpectedly became one never ti forget. What had gone wrong? Blackouts have occurred before — but for nanosecond blink or two. Not this time. The lights, it turned out, were on a timer, and nobody had expected the meet to run so late.
Paul Giel Field. The multi-event field by daylight.