New Middletown North Track A Real Eye-Opener

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By Dan Russo
MIDDLETOWN – Middletown students and residents may do a double take the next time they run on High School North’s recently resurfaced track. Instead of being greeted by a traditional color like black or red, the new surface is an eye-popping orange.
The resurfacing project, which was completed in August, was an ongoing discussion between Middletown Athletic Director Rich Carroll and High School North track and field coaches Ray Convey and Brock Silvestri.
In the last two years, extensive water damage created potholes in lane one of the track and forced athletes to use the outer lanes to complete their workouts.
Those improvised workouts haven’t hindered the recent success of the Lions teams, whose boys and girls track programs have been some of the top in the state in recent years.
But even though the championship-caliber teams now have a state-of-the-art facility to match, Silvestri warned it doesn’t remove hard work from the equation.
“It’s not going to all of a sudden make every kid on the team an All-American, but we’ll definitely – hopefully – see some improvements,” Silvestri said.
The newly resurfaced eight-lane track cost $397,005, according to an email sent by Middletown Township school district business administrator Amy Gallagher. The money for the project was part of the district’s 2016-2017 capital budget.
Coaches Silvestri and Convey hope the expensive project will pay off by attracting larger championship meets to the new facility, which will ultimately create more fundraising opportunities for the track programs and the school.
“Having a state-of-the-art facility (means) we’re already looking into being a host school for some championship meets,” Silvestri said, adding that he hopes the new track will bring attention to the school.
In addition to bringing in revenue and using it as a recruiting tool, the coaches also hope the track’s bright orange color – which matches Middletown North’s black and orange school colors – will inspire pride among the Middletown North community.
According to Silverstri the vibrant orange color is not used on any other tracks in the area and he hopes its uniqueness will attract spectators who are curious and want to see something different.
“We’ve already had great facilities and then we get an upgrade to our track, so I think it just provides more pride for the kids, for the whole North community really, but especially the track kids,” Convey said.