Heat wave forces teams to adjust

With temperatures in excess of 105 degrees, high school athletic teams made adjustments, not only in their practices, but also in their games.

All three football games were moved a half-hour to an hour later to accommodate the anticipated 106 degree Friday heat.

Both Madera and Golden Valley unified school districts had to make changes in the athletic schedules because of the recent heat wave that reached as high as 109 degrees in Madera.

Today’s DeWitt Invitational cross country race at Town and Country Park moved its race times an hour earlier because of the heat advisory. The middle school girls race begins at 7 a.m. and the junior and senior boys race will end the invitational at 9 a.m.

Madera South’s girls tennis match against Liberty on Friday was moved from a 3 p.m. start to a 6 p.m. start, which will end under the lights. Madera South’s Tuesday match against Kerman was moved to Sept. 27.

Water polo matches against McLane on Tuesday were also postponed with no rescheduled date announced.

Both Madera and Madera South freshman football teams moved kick offs from 6 to 7 p.m. to play under the lights.

Madera’s boys water polo match on Tuesday against Hoover was moved from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

On Friday, junior varsity football kickoffs were moved from 5 to 6 p.m. with varsity to start following, at about 8 p.m. In addition, the Madera South football team worked to move under the lights at Memorial Stadium rather than practice in the afternoon on campus.