After being held annually for 13 years, nothing has been able to derail the Plankenhorn Invitational from taking place to honor its namesake.
    Not even Mother Nature can get in way, which is the storyline for this year’s iteration of the Plankenhorn. With forecasts calling for around a 90 percent chance of rain Friday — the original date for the meet — Southeast Bulloch officials made the decision to move the meet to today, March 29.
    “It’s been sitting at around 70 percent since last week, and considering how much we pour into this meet the last thing we wanted is for it to be rained out,” said SEB head track coach Jeremy Gantt. “We figured this would be the best thing for everyone involved.”
    One would think this might cause some teams to back out or cite some conflict of scheduling, however this was not the case. All 17 teams who planned on attending the meet Friday will be there this afternoon when field events kick off at 3 p.m. at the Southeast Bulloch track.
    The list of teams is daunting for a school the size of SEB. Effingham County, South Effingham, Richmond Hill, Statesboro and Liberty County will all make an appearance today and will push SEB’s runners as well as the other smaller classification schools who will be there.
    In the past, the Plankenhorn has had trouble with attendance, with as little as seven teams showing up at a time. But ever since SEB decided to move the meet away from weekends, the conflicts with prom, ROTC events or the SATs all evaporated.
    “The move has allowed for better competition, which is better for the meet in general,” Gantt said. “It pushes our athletes to be better when they race against the best.”
    However through all the craziness of scheduling or moving event times, one thing has stayed consistent through the 13 years of the Plankenhorn — and that’s making sure no one ever forgets Derrick.
    Derrick Plankenhorn — the namesake of the event — died from a heart arrhythmia while practicing as a member of the Yellow Jackets' track and field team. The distance runner collapsed one day at practice and never got back up, a tragedy still felt by the Brooklet Community.
    Ever since Planekhorn’s passing, SEB has put on this event in honor of Derrick’s legacy. The legacy of being an exemplary student athlete at the high school level, which is the focal point and mission of the meet.
    “I never knew Derrick personally, but everyone here in the community speaks glowingly of him,” Gannt said. “All of the teachers who are still here when they knew him say he was a shining example of a student.”
    But of course, with a meet comes competition and with competition comes winners and losers. Over 132 medals will be handed out this evening between the 17 schools in attendance, and those times and distances will be immediately available for viewing on ga.milesplit.com.
    As mentioned earlier, the field events will begin at 3 p.m. with all running events set to start at 4:30 p.m. Gantt suspects the meet should be over by 9:00 p.m., with all medals having been handed out by 9:30 p.m.