Kaneland High School’s track rebuilding process continues to progress, and student-athletes, coaches and other staff members are eager for these long-awaited upgrades.
The Kaneland Board of Education voted in favor of replacing the hazardous track in late April 2024 because the track’s deteriorating quality caused numerous injuries. The track hasn’t been resurfaced since 1997, making this change very exciting for the athletes and students who use it.
According to Kaneland Krier editor Anna Gatz, the asphalt base underneath the track was last replaced in 1975. Asphalt bases usually last around 30 years, therefore this necessity is 19 years overdue.
Sophomore Amani Meeks was on the girls track team last year. During her middle school seasons, she was a two-time State qualifier for the long jump event. Meeks’ freshman season was an adjustment, but what made it more challenging was the actual condition of the track.
“I think the quality of the middle school [track] was better than the high school because the high school had cracks in the track, and the cracks would be refilled with concrete,” Meeks said. “We couldn’t run on certain parts of the track like that because there was an incident with someone getting their spike stuck, so we were not able to run on those parts of the track with spikes, but then we eventually just weren’t
allowed to run with spikes at all on the track.”
The cracks that Meeks described were on the track for many years before her season, and over time the size of them increased making the hazards more significant.
Head athletic trainer Maggie Walker works with Kaneland’s track athletes very often. Walker not only helps with students and athletes with their injuries or pain, but she creates connections with them and helps whenever she can along with hoping the best for them.
“I am really excited,” Walker said. “I think unfortunately a lot of our seniors on the track team last year didn’t really get to have a home event per se. We hosted one at West Aurora that was kind of like a Senior Night for them, but I am thankful for this year. It’s kind of going to be changed, and both our boys and girls can have a home stadium track that they’re proud to have.”
As track athletes face a range of normal injury possibilities each year, the moment the conditions of Kaneland’s track started to cause injuries on its own, the matter started to be taken more seriously. The school’s track being in desperate need of an update for decades didn’t make the push to the school’s board until the hazardous qualities caused a serious injury for an athlete.
Trevor McKeown has been the throwers’ coach for the past three years, and starting this year he will be
the head coach of the track team.
“The [injury] finally started creating the movement and the push we needed because it has been brought up for decades, but it finally took that last step, ” McKeown said. “I am happy that it happened and everything, but I am sad that it had to come to that.”
