By David Porter

Finally, Amherst’s high school track and field teams have a facility that can match their accomplishments.

The deep reddish-orange synthetic track enclosing a lush green playing field has slowly taken shape over the last 15 months, with the oval running surface completed months ago. On Sept. 4 the school held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate a milestone that was years in the making and, to many in town, grievously overdue – the previous track, built in the late 1990s, was so degraded that the boys’ and girls’ teams haven’t been able to host meets against other schools for nearly a decade. 

“This is a transformative project, for both the schools and the community,” said David Ziomek, an assistant town manager and director of conservation and development who played a key role in shepherding the project. “This is what creates pride of place. For years this has been a substandard facility; now they can have regional track meets here, regional competitions for soccer, for lacrosse, for ultimate, and the list goes on.”

The project’s $4.6 million cost was paid for by a combination of free cash from the town of Amherst, Community Preservation Act funds from the towns of Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, and Shutesbury, donations raised by the Amherst Hurricanes Athletic Boosters, as well as borrowing by the Regional school district. The project reoriented the track and playing field to run perpendicular, rather than parallel, to Mattoon Street and added a second playing field to the west. 

Other features include a perimeter fence, new concrete stairs from the parking lot down to the playing field and improved ADA accessibility. The track has been expanded from six lanes to eight – a requirement for regional track meets – and the playing field, previously plagued by poor drainage, has an improved drainage system. The soccer field also was widened to regulation width. The town has contracted with an outside company to maintain the fields for about the next year and a half, Ziomek said; after that, the schools will assume that responsibility. 

Training on a substandard track hasn’t stopped Amherst’s teams from being successful: in particular, the girls’ team recently won a Western Mass. title and the school’s first state title. 

“We showed that the track isn’t something that can hold us back,” said team member Ololara Baptiste. “I can’t wait to see what these upcoming seasons will bring, and this new track will be a huge factor in that.”

As the ceremony came to a close and dozens of athletes prepared to resume their workouts, Superintendent Dr. Xiomara Herman made a request.

“Take care of this place. Be proud of it, and every time you step onto this field or the track, remember that an entire community invested in you, because they believed in what you can become.”