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HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD: Waterville debuts new track

Renovated home draws round of applause

By Bill Stewart bstewart@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

WATERVILLE — One by one, the track and field teams strolled into the facility and took their places near the middle of the field.

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A NEW SEASON: Waterville Senior High School’s Alexa Frame runs the fourth leg of the 100-meter hurddle relay during the seventh annual David Whyte Memorial Relays held Thursday morning at Drummond Field, where Waterville unveiled its new $200,000 track facility.

Staff photo by Michael G. Seamans

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GOING THE DISTANCE: Waterville Senior High School’s Myles Madore, right, crosses the finish line in the 400x4 relay during the seventh annual David Whyte Memorial Relays held Thursday morning at Drummond Field, where Waterville unveiled its new $200,000 track facility. The project included a new track installation, new triple jump pits and high jump area.

Staff photo by Michael G. Seamans

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Spectators filed into the bleachers as the teams — all 11 of them — were announced.

Finally, the Waterville Senior High School teams, both Class B state championship contenders, entered their renovated home to a hearty round of applause.

And with that, a new era for Waterville athletics began.

The seventh annual David Whyte Memorial Relays were held Thursday morning at Drummond Field, where Waterville unveiled its new $200,000 track facility.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Waterville athletic director Doug Frame said. “There are not of other high school facilities like this out there.

“No other high school has as good a surface as ours.”

The place sparkled Thursday, even in the strong winds and occasional snow showers that tormented the athletes for much of the day.

“It’s amazing,” Waterville senior sprinter Alex Rowe said. “I haven’t seen a place like this.”

The project, which the school and booster club funded, included a track installation, new triple jump pits and a new high jump area. Frame said the school and booster club, run by Greg Hale, split the cost.

“We didn’t think it would happen this quick,” Frame said. “We’d never thought we’d get this done on time for the spring.”

Added Hale, whose booster began aggressively fundraising last spring: “About 15 months ago, Doug and I were talking at a basketball game and we agreed we had to resurface the track. We didn’t want our athletes competing on this. We thought it would be about $70,000 to do, but it would become $200,000.”

The six-laned track features a rubberized surface that is a half-inch thick. Most tracks are three-eighths of an inch thick. Many are made out of black top.

Brian Cornish, of Windham, helps run Maine Tennis and Track, a company that installs and resurfaces tracks.

Cornish said his family run company completes anywhere from “three to four” track installations a year.

His company began work on the project in September.

“We came in and removed the track, stripped it off,” he said. “It was then paved and we had to wait a couple of weeks for it to settle. It was a 10-day process. We put a layer of dry rubber down and glued it down. Then we did another layer. There are seven layers of rubber on the track. The first five are black and the last two are red, which really makes it stand out.

“We then sprayed the track with a red UV coating spray to help protect it from the sun. It was quite a process.”

It’s also quite an improvement from the old track, which Frame and Waterville coach Ian Wilson said posed a safety problem. The track was cracked in several places and even had holes around some of the corners.

The old track was installed about 10 years ago.

“About seven years in it started to fail,” Frame said. “It was a terrible track. The conditions were deplorable the last few years. The last three years, we shouldn’t have been running on it. We had 95 kids come out for track and another 80 at junior high school. That’s 175 kids who use the track every day. It wasn’t safe.”

Added Wilson: “It was awful. Our injury rates were so high the last few years because of it.”
Athletes and coaches marveled at the facility Thursday, saying the rubberized surface made for some fast times.

“It’s awesome,” Waterville senior Katy Massey said. “It’s going to make a big difference. It’s going to help us out.”

Added Gwen Beacham, a senior at Mt. Blue: “It’s really nice. There no holes here, so that is nice. It’s so much better than running on pavement. A lot of the tracks we go to have pot holes in them.”
Mt. Blue junior Shane O’Neill said the track had a “good bounce to it.”

“It grips your spikes, “ he said. “It’s impressive.”

Winslow coach Shawn Carey says the new facility will make other teams want to come to Waterville.

“It’s nice,” he said. “They needed it. They needed to get what they had fixed.”

The Waterville Relays feature events not seen at championship meets, including the co-ed race walk, 4x200 relay, hurdle shuttles and distance relays.

The event is named after David Whyte, a longtime Waterville track supporter who died in 2004.
His widow, Andrea Whyte, said he would’ve “loved this place.”

“It’s really impressive,” she said. “The track teams were always such an important part of our lives. It’s nice to see him be remembered. He’d be so happy this was done.”
 

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@mainetoday.com