On your marks, Get Set, Go!
The Maupin Deschutes River Athletic Complex Team met on Saint Patrick's Day in Maupin. The weather is starting to warm up and the 2022 track and field season is starting. We would have loved for our Redsides to begin their season on a new track but we did everything except surface Beynon top coat.
The World Track and Field Championships is coming to Oregon and we would love to showcase our amazing facility for the world to see this summer.
Our partners from Beynon Sports, BestHQ, Kirby Nagelhout and IncubatorU so many others ( National Guard) have been on standby this winter looking for every opportunity to get get to the finish line in the Spring of 2022!
The group gathered at the track and looked at the weather forecasts coming up ( we need at least 3 days of warm dry weather to lay the base coat of the track). Maupin's weather forecast looked decent at the end of the month where we will begin to stage our surfacing materials and gear beginning March 28th.
It takes a few weeks for Beynon to complete from base coat process, quality control of the drainage and the final surfacing of the track. The final steps of the process are to paint the lines for competition and be ready to practice on a few days following the painting of the track.
One of the challenges we will face during the surfacing is to make sure we keep the deer from wandering onto the track as the base coat is curing. That is a critical stage in the process for the long term benefit of the track. The DRAC team will be reaching out to community to keep a close watch during those critical days to insure that we keep our local deer off the facility during that time.
Our partners have been amazing with the value engineering of the track as we continue to seek grants and donations to complete the entire complex. We were still short funding for all new track and field equipment ( Hurdles, Pole Vault and High Jump Pits, Starting Blocks and Standards.) These are all basic needs to be able to host a track meet. The cost for this gear if bought new is around $80,000.
There are so many people and businesses pulling together to make this happen. The connection and engagement from Oregon's Track and Field Community has been overwhelming. They want us to succeed and have shown it by sharing their resources as we get off the ground. The priority was to surface the track. We needed equipment to put on track meets. The track and field communities stepped up.
We still needed to transport these pits and hurdles from the Portland area to Maupin. Luckily the Imperial River Company has a very large trailer they brought over to Portland during another event that they were attending in the area. We loaded it up and now it is ready to be unloaded at the track.
As we finalize the details of the track surfacing our partners at Beynon offered to pick up the remainder of the equipment from Scappoose High School. They recently finished resurfacing the track at Scappoose and will be installing a Turf Field there this summer. Beynon offered to pick up all of the hurdles and pole vault pits from Scappoose and bring them to Maupin as we begin to surface the track. This offer from Beynon is a continuation with the amazing cooperation we have had from our partners as we set out to fulfill this dream.
It started with the National Guard in the Summer of 2020. We shared our sod with neighboring communities and now our track surfacing is offering to use their trailers to pick up equipment donated by schools that is still high quality and usable.
We reached out to a few schools that might have recently updated their equipment and are fortunate enough to have Jesuit High School donate a high jump pit as well as blocks and standards for the High Jump and Pole Vault. Scappoose High School recently resurfaced their track and replaced all of their equipment providing an opportunity for South Wasco County High School to have a Pole Vault Pit, a full set of Hurdles and a few other key items donated allowing us to host our first meet in over 50 years.
We are close to the vision we started from an odd shaped cinder track to a world class track and field that will host the 2022 District Track and Field meet in May. Join us for that special day and celebration.
