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New track has
Panthers up
and running
By Kevin Allen
Rappahannock News Staff Writer , Rappahannock County High School’s track and field team is going into this season with a key piece of equipment the Panthers have never had > before: a real track.
The old gravel oval around the football field has been replaced by a new rubber surface, which accompanies new sand pits for the jumping events and new throwing circles for shot put and discus.
In past years, the team often practiced on the bus circle in front of the high school, coach Scott Stephens said, and that hard surface took a toll on the runners’ shins. He said he thinks the new track has encouraged more students to sign up for the 31-person team this season.
“I’m sure there’s a couple kids out here just because we have something to run on,” he said.
The track is not fully completed - cold weather and lack of sunlight have prevented the contractor from finishing its latex seal and painting the lane lines - so the team may have to delay or change the location of their scheduled home meet versus George Mason and Luray on April 11. In prior years, the team was unable to host a meet without a rubber-surface track.
The Panthers have an experienced class of senior boys returning and Stephens said he expects them to break the school record for the 400-meter relay. If not for a botched hand-off, the record likely would have been broken during last year’s regional meet, Stephens said. Even with that flub, the boys finished just 1.9 seconds shy of the school’s all-time mark.
Three members of that relay squad - seniors Josh Makela, Jesse Palmer and Irving Smith - are back this year. Chris Harris, who graduated
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