The cross country team expected to be able to use Derr Track as a meeting place and practice area this fall, but setbacks still have the track under construction. The reopening of Derr Track, which was supposed to be ready before the 2007 school year, has been delayed.
“It’s been way over a year,” John Martinez, a sophomore, said. “I thought that it would be done over the summer sometime for sure, and it hasn’t. I know they had a few minor problems, and it kind of sucks. I am kind of aggravated that we’re not allowed to run out there yet.”
Junior Chris Kollar said that even though having the field completed would be a great place for practice, there are other places, like the Miller intramural fields, where the team members can meet, stretch and do repetitions on the grass as if they were on the track.
“For cross country it is not really that big of a deal,” Martinez said. “We are doing OK, and we are making do without it for now.”
“We haven’t really missed a beat so far in this season,” senior Wesley Smith said. “In cross country we don’t run on the track and we don’t have races on the track. So we are able to get out there and run on grass and run on other stuff that simulates [cross country] races a little bit more. So having the track done right now is not that big of a deal.”
Even though it could make some things easier for the team by having an official meeting ground where it can stretch as a team and have warm-ups. Although some said the track is not a big issue for the team, later on in the year the cross country team can benefit from the Derr Track in another way.
“Once the track starts, maybe toward the end of cross country, we can start getting some faster speed work, some 400s and quarter miles and stuff,” Martinez said. “Having a track would be very beneficial toward our team.”
For right now some team members say they are undeterred by the delay of Derr Track and have found alternative ways to continue practice and training.
“Now unless it continues and extends into our track season, then we will have a problem,” Kollar said. “But right now it really doesn’t have any effect on us.”
