Members of The Easton High School Cross Country Team were thrilled to be the first athletes to train on the school’s much anticipated new track, installed late this summer. After many years of deterioration of the prior track surface, and a lack of available capital funds to repair or replace it, the old track was condemned during the 2019-2020 school year, leaving the teams unable to host home competitions.
Elizabeth Heinsohn, Head Coach of Cross Country and Indoor Track and Assistant Coach for Outdoor Track said, “I am excited for our kids to have a new track to run on. I am looking forward to holding home meets and having good quality equipment for the kids to use to train. It’s going to be exciting to see how much they improve!”
The new track surface is a polyresin system that provides a durable, resilient, and high-performance product for student-athletes. The replacement project included removal of the old track material, repair of the existing asphalt surface, installation of an asphalt overlay, and finally, the installation of the new multi-layer track surface. The project began on June 19, 2021, and the final completion date was August 27, 2021.
“The new track is great, exclaimed Senior Harrison Fike. “It has a really good grip to it, especially compared to the asphalt we were running on before. It radiates heat very nicely so that’ll be good (when it’s not 90°). It’ll be nice to have home meets again, and the new track should help our times improve a bit.”
“I’m so grateful that we were able to get a new track this year! It’s been hard during the past few seasons because we haven’t been able to have home meets,” said Sophie Leight, also a Senior. “With a new track we are able to have home meets, so our friends and family will be more likely to come out and support us. I can already tell that the new track is having a positive impact on my training.”
“I am grateful for the county and district’s support of Easton High School’s new track,” added Danielle Haley, Assistant Coach, Cross Country, and Indoor Track and Head Coach for Outdoor Track, “I have already noticed a boost in the morale and confidence of the team as they step on the new track. I know this will make a difference in our team’s performance, not only in the running events but in the field events as well.”
“I am thrilled to see this project completed at long last,” said Dr. Kelly L. Griffith, Superintendent. “We first began talking about the need to replace the track when I was principal of Easton High! On behalf of all our athletes and their families, I want to thank the Talbot County Council and the Board of Education for their support of this project.”
