Low-tech edition (About)
Home > Sports > Running Blog
Running Home | Weather Forecast | What is Redwood Empire
Track All-Time | Cross Country All-Time
Schedule | Archives | Links
DATE: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 BYLINE: By RICH RUPPRECHT THE PRESS DEMOCRAT SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 BIG CAT OPENS NEW TRACK ERA The Big Cat Invitational, one of the earliest (March 5) meets of the high school track season at Santa Rosa, marks a new era for the sport locally. Four Santa Rosa high schools are sporting brand new all-weather tracks -- Santa Rosa, Montgomery Piner and Maria Carrillo -- meaning the days of dirt tracks and practicing in mud are over. Longtime Santa Rosa coach Doug Courtemarche believes the new facilities will jump start the sport and bring out more would-be athletes. Dirt tracks made practice in the rain or after rainy days impossible. ``I think it will pump excitement into track,'' Courtemarche said, who reported a slight increase in those going out for the sport at his school. It also means the Big Cat and the all-City meet, hosted by Santa Rosa, no longer will be held at Santa Rosa JC's Bailey Field. And lights at Santa Rosa make it possible to hold night meets, like the all-City meet May 6. The Redwood Empire meet, a qualifier for North Coast Section, will also be held at Santa Rosa on May 21. * The Big Cat meet originated in 1993 as a dual meet between Santa Rosa and Berkeley. Rancho Cotate and Montgomery joined in and later San Francisco schools Lowell and Lick Wilmerding. ``We don't give awards, but we don't charge the teams, either,'' Courtemarche said of the informal meet. ``It was kind of to let the new kids know what a track meet was like,'' Courtemarche said. ``For a lot of kids it's the first track meet of their career.'' Courtemarche plans to honor any Santa Rosa alumni who competed on the old six-lane dirt track, at the start of the meet, which will be 10 a.m. Hurdle races will be coed and teams can be made up of competitors from different schools. Courtemarche hopes to have his Olympic torch from the 1996 Atlanta Games fired up and ready for some laps. The snack bar and barbecue will be ready as well. The public is welcome to the unofficial opening of the facility.
|
Email story | Print story | Subscribe to paper
|