Hastings College to break ground on outdoor track

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http://www.theindependent.com/stories/0 ... ck23.shtml

Hastings College to break ground on outdoor track

Officials at Hastings College will break ground on a new outdoor track and field complex at a ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Barrett Alumni Center patio.
The track will be located on the northeast corner of campus at Sixth Avenue and 12th Street, north of the Barrett Alumni Center. This will mark the beginning of the final phase of the Osborne Family Sports Complex. The complex already includes the basketball and volleyball arena and football/soccer stadium.

Work on the $800,000 project is scheduled to begin soon, with a fall 2006 completion date. If construction proceeds as scheduled, Hastings College will likely host one or two home meets in spring 2007 and eventually host the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) championships.

The college's current track on the south side of campus on Seventh Street was constructed in 1925 and featured a cinder surface. In the mid-1980s, the track was upgraded to an all-weather material. That track was resurfaced two years ago, but underlying conditions were such that the surface buckled and is unsafe for use.

"What will make the new track and field facility great is that it stands on its own," said Kendrick Clay, head track and field coach. "It celebrates the sport. It is not an afterthought."

The project will help spur anticipated growth of a program that already boasts more than 70 athletes and top 10 finishes for men and women at the 2005 outdoor national championships.

Clay said he expects the track, with its top-of-the-line polyurethane surface and more gradual curves, to help runners achieve faster times. The jumping areas also will allow athletes to utilize the prevailing winds during competition.

In addition to construction of the facility, the project includes the purchase of new equipment, such as a state-of-the-art timing system, hurdles, barriers, and pole vault and steeple chase pits.

The public is welcome to attend Tuesday's ceremony.

The program will include remarks by Clay; Hal Dittmer of Sacramento, Calif., chairman of the Hastings College Board of Trustees; Phillip Dudley Jr., college president; Gary Freeman of Omaha, president of the Hastings College Foundation; and senior Uzo Akotaobi of Thornton, Colo., a member of the track team and president of the Student Association.

The Rev. Dr. David McCarthy, assistant professor of religion and chaplain of the college, will provide the invocation and benediction.

IF YOU GO

Outdoor track groundbreaking

When: 12:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Barrett Alumni Center patio, Hastings College