“The whole track was just ripped up, and chunks of it were missing,” Costin said. “It was worn all the way through.”
Then imagine the relief Costin and the rest of the Miller track team felt when spring practices started this year on a brand-new surface, courtesy of a 2006 bond measure and a Nike grant named after the man who designed the track. The track will receive its second round of improvements starting next month.
It’s no longer “kind of an embarrassment” to senior long jumper Michelle Stone.
“It’s great to have the first year that the track’s being used to be my senior year,” Stone said. “I can definitely tell a difference on the runway.”
Designed by Bill Bowerman and constructed in 1953 — one year after a Springfield alumnus named Bill Dellinger graduated — the old track hosted meets ranging from state to national prominence, including the Track City International Classic, Junior and Special Olympics meets, high school state championships and the Midwestern League championships, held at Silke for more than 40 years.
But after 53 years of history, officials at the Springfield School District two years ago decided the landmark would benefit from a makeover.
So did Springfield voters. They passed a facilities bond measure in November 2006 that raised $100,000 toward the renovation, which had a total cost of $150,000.
“The old lanes, if you had seen them before, they were faded, not well marked and there were little divots in the track,” said Jeff DeFranco, community relations coordinator for the Springfield School District. “You can just tell right away when you get on it it’s got a softer, better feel.”
Hearing that his younger brother’s California high school had its track resurfaced using a Bowerman Track Renovation Program grant from Nike, DeFranco applied for the same grant the following March. Started in 1999, the program matches the amount the community raises up to $50,000; it awards about $200,000 overall annually.
Besides letters of support from the Oregon Track Club and the amount of annual traffic the track handles as its evidence, Springfield officials used the bond money as proof to leverage the maximum grant.
“That allowed us to bring some resources to the table and say, ‘Hey we’re making this investment, can you help us enhance that investment?’ ” DeFranco said.
During the fall of 2007, the track was stripped to its original asphalt base and then surfaced with Nike Grind, a product composed of recycled athletic shoes that are ground into rubber granules.
Although schools aren’t required to use Grind with the Bowerman grant, 18 grant recipients have surfaced their tracks with Grind, which takes about 75,000 shoes to make.
This fall, the track should be complete after a second round of construction starts in July. Its newest features — a 3-foot-tall fence around the track’s perimeter, new drinking fountains and an interpretive sign with Silke Field’s history — should be the most visible.
For those unaware of the history behind Silke Field, the sign will provide its long history to the next generation, DeFranco said.
Besides Dellinger, other notable alumni include Maria Mutola. She won the individual state cross country title in 1991, her only year at Springfield, and is expected to compete in her sixth Olympic Games this summer for Mozambique.
Once complete, DeFranco believes the renovations should make the facility “the destination for the state meet.”
“The vision is to become the premier track location not only in Lane County but in the state for high school tracks,” he said.
So far, Springfield athletes have approved.
“You can get better times, and it’s a lot better because last year the track was so bad the athletes would be getting shin splints,” sprinter Dusty Jarvis said.
Costin welcomed the kind of injury-free training he and the rest of the Millers’ distance running corps enjoyed this season.
“Last year, I think five people at times had shin splints,” Costin said. “I don’t think one person on the distance squad has shin splints this year.”