Chamberlain runners can go to meet, despite Rosh Hashana ban

The Chamberlain High boys cross-country team will be allowed to compete in today's Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville after a resolution was worked out by the Hillsborough County School District to deal with a ban on sports teams competing during Rosh Hashana.

The district originally ruled that county teams could not compete during Rosh Hashana, or Jewish new year, which runs from sunset today through nightfall Sunday.

The ruling forced Wharton High to withdraw from a major invitational Saturday in Jacksonville, but Chamberlain parents and coaches appealed to the school board for permission to compete in Gainesville. Armwood High, which was also slated to compete in Gainesville, opted to withdraw.

Hillsborough's public schools played their football games on Thursday night instead of Friday to avoid the holiday conflict.

Late Thursday, Chamberlain cross-country coach Bill Strack learned that Deputy Superintendent Ken Otero had drawn up a release form Chamberlain parents could sign that would waive liability issues and permit their children to run in today's meet.

Chamberlain parent Jeanine Parrish is pleased with the decision. Her son Mark is a senior standout hoping to make an impression on college coaches at the meet to receive scholarship offers.

"I'm just so relieved they [school district] were able to work this all out in time," she said. "Mark and the boys have been looking forward to this meet for so long. It would've been a shame if they couldn't run."

One stipulation of the agreement is that Strack is not allowed to travel with the squad and cannot coach them at the meet. He can, however, travel to Gainesville as a fan and watch the meet - which is what he plans to do.

"It's been complicated, and I'm not sure why they [school district] had to go to such lengths to allow the kids to run or why we had to spend hours on the phone trying to get this all worked out," Strack said. "Mark and the guys wanted to go badly. It was a big deal to them, almost on the level of a high school graduation or prom."