Gig Harbor hopes to get new pits someday (WA)

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.gateline.com/105/story/3635.html

In need of an upgrade
GHHS track coaches hope to secure funds for new mats, storage
Marques Hunter
of the Gateway
Published: 12:25PM March 6th, 2009


Gateway photo/Lee Giles III
Gig Harbor track and field coach Kevin Eager stands inside the shed located next to the Tides’ track. Eager, along with other coaches, believes an upgrade to the program’s equipment and facilities is necessary.
The Gig Harbor track and field program has been among the best in the state in the past four years. The Tides are the only team with multiple boys state titles (2005, ’07), and the Gig Harbor girls’ state title in ’07 and second-place finish last year trail only Bellarmine Prep’s two championships. Yet coaches and players agree an upgrade to the school’s track and field facility and equipment storage room is imperative.

Improvements to the facility have been minimal since it opened in 1979, and coaches at both Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools say receiving upgrades for their programs is wishful thinking.

“The needs will always outweigh the resources,” said Chuck Cuzzetto, associate superintendent for the Peninsula School District. “We are showing a distribution of fairness and resources for 15 schools and allocating them wisely.”

The PSD began to identify areas of need six months ago for a 30-year facilities plan, which is scheduled to be released at the end of the summer. It will include a priority list of buildings, classrooms and athletic fields.

“We’re trying to deal with the big picture,” Cuzzetto said.

The district isn’t close to identifying funding sources yet — bonds would be the most likely, Cuzzetto said — and the passage of a three-year replacement levy last month will only keep the district’s budget on par with previous budgets, so district officials can’t guarantee funding anytime soon.

But Gig Harbor track and field coach Kevin Eager hopes his program will be high on the list when those projects are identified. He believes many other sports programs at Gig Harbor High School aren’t dealing with the same magnitude of track, field and storage issues.

“It’s going to be a safety issue at some point,” said Eager, who is entering his sixth year as head coach this spring. “We are approaching the line of questionable safety.”

District officials said any simple solution tends to become complex. Ernie Elton, director of facilities for the PSD, said there is only about $750,000 available for maintenance projects this year, and most of it went toward rotting issues at local school buildings.

And with the state looking to cut $8.5 billion from its biennial budget, PSD officials believe they could see a $2 million reduction in maintenance projects throughout the district.

Eager said he feels like a voice in the wilderness because he knows there are plenty of other areas, district-wide, that need attention. He said it’s stressful to have to get the facility ready for meets that invite up to three schools and up to 400 hundred athletes.

“But you have to make the best of it,” Eager said. “What’s happening is our coaching staff is going above and beyond to keep this thing afloat.”

The Tides’ athletes have begun to notice the area has become a bit of an eyesore.

“When we have home meets, it’s miserable,” Tides senior sprinter Brittany Schroeder said. “We have to cram in the shed if it’s raining. It’s not a good experience at all to have a meet at our place. Everyone dreads it, even though we’re a high-caliber team.”

Gig Harbor senior Andrew Burghardt said he isn’t affected by the track when it comes to his performance, but he thinks it could be a better experience for fans.

“You have all the parents on the fence, and there is nowhere for them to really sit,” he said.

“When you look around, you can tell it’s not as lively as it should be.”

When the school was first built in 1979, the track and field area was intended to be a practice-only facility. Joel Wingard, the Tides’ track coach from 1979-98, said the facility was excellent to start with, but there was never a plan to build permanent seating.

The Gig Harbor field is named after Wingard, who also has coached the Peninsula High cross country and track teams.

Eager said the areas of the Gig Harbor facility that need the most attention are the landing mats and storage for them. Second on that list is the condition of the track.

In addition, Eager said the shed that houses the equipment is too small. When the program stored the mats inside the shed last year, there was a rodent problem, he said.

The district quickly addressed that issue, but now the mats are kept outside, where they are exposed to the weather.

Wingard said the mats — used for high jump and pole vault — were purchased in 1990 for about $10,000 after they were used during the Goodwill Games at Husky Stadium in Seattle. They are almost 20 years old and have degraded significantly.

In 2001, the track was completely resurfaced for the first time, but the school district couldn’t afford a urethane binder, which provides a more resilient surface needed for increased protection.

Elton said it would cost the district about $170,000 to resurface Gig Harbor High’s public-use track that includes a urethane binder.

“The issues I’m worried about are the cracks in the asphalt,” Eager said. “They are worse and more numerous.”

Gig Harbor distance-running coach Patty Ley said there’s also a drainage issue — inside the track where football and soccer practice is held — and it was bad in 2007, when water leaked onto the track.

Since then, Ley said the district has fixed the drainage issue.

“There has to be some stuff that has to be done relatively soon,” Ley said. “It’s workable, but it could use an upgrade.”

Despite the coaches’ concerns, they remain in control, not allowing it to become a distraction for their athletes.

“We can make excuses or get the job done,” Eager said. “It would be better to have better facilities, but I think one of the things we’ve all done is we know what needs to be done, and we’re going to make it happen with what we have.”

Noticeable changes
Despite the Gig Harbor track and field facility’s needs, the Peninsula School District and the Gig Harbor Booster program and volunteers have made a visible impact in the past seven years at both Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools.

Among the positive impacts, a more than $2 million multi-purpose synthetic field was constructed at Gig Harbor High in 2005 for varsity soccer and fastpitch games, as well as football practice, and it was paid for by Pierce County.

Last summer, a viewing area was built for spectators to watch tennis matches at Gig Harbor High. And last fall, the district spent $30,000 for wiring and lighting for the turf field.

In 2003, Roy Anderson Field at Peninsula High School, where both Peninsula and Gig Harbor host football games, received a multi-million-dollar upgrade with synthetic field turf and a new track surface.

As recently as last fall, the Gig Harbor Booster Club helped fund the athletic medicine facility. Tides medical trainer David Andrews said the space is about four times bigger than the previous training room.

“The upgrade has been a tremendous help for sports programs,” Andrews said. “It gives me more room, and I think we can have a better rehabilitative and preventative process there.”

Dave Elmore, grounds chief for the PSD, said the district recently fixed some drainage issues in the outfield at the Gig Harbor High School baseball field.

“We’re going to work very hard to fix the mat and mat storage issue,” said Thom Worlund, assistant principal at Gig Harbor High.

Reach sports reporter Marques Hunter at 253-853-9246 or by e-mail at marques.hunter@gateline.com.