As air quality continues to suffer around the entire Northeast, into the Midwest and down South due to lingering smoke from massive Canadian wildfires, the NJSIAA is monitoring the situation as it relates to high school sports, with several championships still to be contested through the weekend.
The Non-Public Group Finals for baseball are scheduled for Thursday afternoon and evening at Bob DeMeo Field in Hamilton’s Veteran’s Park, with the Public Group Finals set for Saturday, with games scheduled for 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm and 7 pm.
Old Bridge will play in its first-ever state final Saturday at 4:00 when the Knights take on Ridgewood, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame set for 3:45 pm. Click here to listen.
According to the US Air Quality Index, the air quality in Lawrenceville, just a few miles away from Veterans’ Park in Hamilton, is deemed “unhealthy” with an AQI of 180, meaning “Some members of the general public may experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.”
Improvement could come Thursday at the earliest, according to some media reports, which also have said New York City currently has the worst air quality in the world. ABC7 reports that New York City schools are open, but “students will not be doing any outdoor activities during their school day.”
Additionally, some high school sports events have been cancelled or postponed in upstate New York, while a Yahoo! News report also cited the cancellation of outdoor school activities as far south as Washington, D.C.
The NJSIAA told Central Jersey Sports Radio in a statement today that it “is closely monitoring air quality data across New Jersey and local/state health advisories. As start times for athletic events draw near, we will make decisions for each venue and sport based on currently available information. Schools should monitor official NJSIAA communications only for updates and understand that all schedules are subject to change.”
The NJSIAA has numerous other outdoor sports in the midst of championships at the moment.
- Softball non-public state finals are Friday, with publics on Saturday, both at Kean University in Union.
- Boys’ lacrosse has public state finals at Hopewell Valley and Bridgewater-Raritan High Schools Friday, with non-publics at East Brunswick on Saturday.
- Girls’ lacrosse has Non-public and public state finals on Friday and Saturday, respectively, Saturday at Hunterdon Central in Flemington.
- Track-and-field has Groups 1, 4 and Non-Public A at Franklin High School, with Groups 2, 3 and Non-Public B at Delsea High School on Friday and Saturday. The Meet of Champions at Franklin isn’t until next Wednesday, June 14th.
- The boys’ tennis singles and doubles tournament runs Saturday through next Thursday, June 15 at Veterans’ Park in Hamilton and Mercer County Park for the first two rounds, and at Mercer from the quarterfinals on.