Upgrades complete for MTHS track, other athletic surfaces

Members of the 2016 Mountlake Terrace Hawks cross country team and a number of alumni from the program try out the new track at Mountlake Terrace High School. The new surface replaces a track that some compared to "running on concrete." (Photo by Lynne Gustafson)
Members of the 2016 Mountlake Terrace Hawks cross country team and a number of alumni from the program try out the new track at Mountlake Terrace High School. The new surface replaces a track that some compared to “running on concrete.” (Photo by Lynne Gustafson)

A summer-long project to replace the aging track at Mountlake Terrace High School is now complete as the new running surface passed its first test Saturday.

The 2016 MTHS Hawks cross country team christened the new surface with its team time trials and alumni race, using the track for the start and finish of their cross country course on Saturday.

The new surface received rave reviews from the student athletes and their coaches. “The kids loved the feel of the new track,” said MTHS Cross Country Coach Todd Weber. “It had a lot of cushion and bounce — night-and-day difference from the old track, which always felt like they were running on concrete.”

In addition to being utilized by students at the high school, the track sees plenty of use in the evenings and weekends by local residents looking for a safe place to run and walk.

The track replacement at Terrace was just part of a project that also replaced the aging turf on the baseball field/football and soccer practice field on the east side of the school. Also upgraded were the long jump pits and the throwing area for discus and shot put athletes.

The work at Mountlake Terrace High School, in addition to similar field improvements at Meadowdale High School, cost a combined $2 million and is being paid for with tax funds being collected from the $59 million Edmonds School District Replacement Technology/Capital that voters passed last February.

— By Doug Petrowski

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