For the first time in 25 years, Jesuit’s track has been resurfaced, giving it a new look and improved features.
“If you’re into track, you can see the intricate details that we put into our track to help our athletes,” Athletic Director Mr. Griffin said.
Most notable of these details are green exchange zones and runways as well as a yellow line between lanes four and five to help with distance events. The lane numbers changed position as well, which made it easier for spectators and officials to see them.
Alley starts, a technique used to start the mile at larger meets like Twilight Relays, have become easier to keep track of. Racers now have a clear line that guides them along until they can break into lane one, which helps both athletes and spectators avoid confusion.
“[The new surface] is going to be just a lot faster,” Sam Kaempf said, a junior on the cross country and track teams.
The technology used to create the track also improved, now using the Hobart System, the same system used for the runways on University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. This system returns energy more efficiently and allows athletes to create more power with each stride.
“[Jesuit] had to resurface the numbers, over and over again, because they were getting gouged up by the spikes,” Kaempf said. “But every time you resurface them, you add a layer to the track. So it became really slippery when it got wet.”
Over time, the track surface gets worn down, which causes it to lose some of the springiness which creates the fast surface. This wear down also causes it to lose grip, which additionally slows down the surface.
“We also put artificial turf around the pole vault pits,” Griffin said. “Because that area gets very saturated in the spring, and it becomes a mud pit. We had to take out one shrub to make room for our javelin judges to stand, and to make it easier for athletes to get in and out after they throw.”
Although the average track lasts 10-20 years, Jesuit’s track has been able to last 25, due to outstanding care from students and staff. Mr. Griffin encourages all students to take care of this new track, so that it, like the old track, may be available to the Jesuit community for many years to come.
