The track at Kaneland High School has been under construction since July 1 when Aurora’s Abbey Construction Company, Inc., the company handling the track’s restoration, began demolition. The track has been completely torn up from its old, cracked previous state and will be rebuilt into a smoother and wider track that athletes can feel safe on.
“We knew it had deteriorated,” head boys track and field coach Andy Drendel said. “It was rock hard. The track was pretty much down to almost an asphalt base. The amount of injuries that we were seeing that were non-track related…was tenfold.”
Increases in injuries such as hip flexors and anything in the pelvic area were happening due to the solid asphalt. Drendel and other track coaches tried their best to prevent injuries from happening by keeping distance runners on the grass and having the team stretch thoroughly, but the state of the track was too much to bear.
“Mainly because it would be like running on the surface in the gym,” Drendel said. “Your knees are going to start hurting. Now imagine doing that every day. The wear and tear injuries were definitely going up, especially the last couple years.”
Originally, the plan was to rebuild the track from the clay layer, but unfortunately, the base was in bad shape.
“When we got into the track, we found that the base layer was not as stable and not in as good of a condition as we had hoped, so they had to do a lot of work at that very base level,” Athletic & Activities Director David Rohlman said.
By working on the base layer and solidifying it with large stones, the track will be stable for 30 plus years, and the athletes who use it will be more protected from potential injuries.
With this project’s size came many expenses. The total bid from Abbey Construction Company, Inc. for the track improvements was $912,371.62, which included a 5% contingency allowance for unprecedented issues that could arise. Three factors – deterioration levels, additional substrate materials and the poor weather conditions that affected the clay base – all contributed to the need for a change order. Additional work and added costs were necessary for the track’s repair, so the contingency allowance was used.
Not only has the track been rebuilt, but there will also be six dual purpose long jump and triple jump runways, moved pole vault runways and a moved high jump apron so it can be connected directly to the track. There will also be two lanes added to the home stretch, which will bring the track to a total of nine lanes for the 100-meter stretch.
With a new and improved track, athletes will be able to comfortably and safely practice while also being able to welcome other schools with pride.
“[Having better facilities] makes teams better and our record better. It positively affects the athletes,” junior track athlete Luke Gadomski said.
