16 months in the making, Imbler High School breaks ground on a state-of-the-art track

IMBLER – Roughly 16 months of hard work, planning, and dedication, along with around $925,000 in grants, donations and fundraising, have culminated in the start of a new chapter for the Imbler High School athletic program. Just before 7:00 p.m. on the evening of Tuesday, August 20, members of the Imbler Track Committee, with a large crowd in attendance, officially broke ground on what will become a new state of the composite material track. Reflecting on the monumental occasion, Track Committee chair Ian Gordon commented:

“It’s awesome. It’s been sixteen months. It’s amazing we’ve got this far, but it’s been a good feeling. I think it’s given everybody the extra little push that we need to finish it out.”

The sentiment was further reflected by coach Heidi Bowers:

“I’m going to cry. It’s unbelievable. I never thought it would happen, never in a million years. I’m so excited for this community. We’ve got a little bit of work left to do to get what they call ‘Heidi’s wish list,’ all the fun stuff to make this work. A huge thank you to everyone, because this has been a community event. Everyone has given time, they’ve given money. Everyone has been involved in this in some way shape or form, because this is quite an undertaking, and this is an amazing thing to see happen.”

And by Imbler High School principal Mike Mills:

“This is kind of like a dream come true. We go from a sandlot to a top-notch facility. It’s going to be really exciting. It’s good for our kids and good for our community.”

With the groundbreaking done, initial construction will focus on the track base and field lighting, both of which should be installed over the next month to month and a half. The final track surfacing will be installed somewhat later once more funding is ready. As of the time of writing, the project itself sits at roughly 80% of its total needed funds, more than enough to get started, but with a few items still left to be funded, including new hurdles, pads and a timing system, among others.

Ian did note that, should a little more funding come in and the weather hold, the track surfacing could be completed this year, allowing the Imbler track team to compete on the track in Spring 2025. If not, then the first real track meet should be in two seasons. As a final summarization of how the Imbler Community is feeling, Russ West, lead grant writer for the project, reflected:

“I think this is a good example of positive thinking. We started a year ago and didn’t even have over a hundred thousand, and people were saying ‘it’s not going to happen, it’s never going to happen, never going to happen for a million years.’ We just kept grinding away. So, you focus on the positive and not the negative, you get a lot done. This is just an example of so many people coming together with their time and their expertise…and their money, and just making it happen.”

For anyone interested in supporting the project, donation information and further updates can be found at: https://imblertrack.org/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEY77NleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZhnfwaQYo_hSD8Cwm-aXPZs2400oy5kFwtZQMkn4ucJFZKH1QK2BsuKbQ_aem_6NnYvj70UGChJLOiBgaiTQ

For those unfamiliar with the project, the goal is to construct a state of the art, eight lane, composite material track for Imbler’s track and field program, replacing the long-standing dirt track. When completed, the new track will allow the school to host tournaments, in addition to drastically cutting down on the amount of shin splints suffered by student athletes.

---

---

---

---

Elkhorn Media Group