MOORPARK COLLEGE ON RIGHT TRACK AFTER YEARS OF RUNNING ON DIRT, TEAM GETS ALL-WEATHER UPGRADE.

Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News

Moorpark College track and field coach Doni Green had the recruiting routine for a prospective athlete visit down pat.

Green would walk the athlete past the trophy case in the physical education building where Moorpark men's 2003 state championship and four consecutive Western State conference plaques are on display.

He would trumpet the men's track team's current 67-meet Western State Conference win streak and the school's high academic excellence and participation in community affairs. Green would accompany the athlete for a walk outside the physical education building and admire the hilltop view of the Simi and Conejo valleys.

Green would hastily point to the track stadium in the distance, keeping his fingers crossed that there would be no additional questions asked about the dirt track.

End of visit.

``A lot of people have thought it was an all-weather track,'' Green said. ``We don't have to be deceiving because, from the top of the campus, it looks like one. The only thing is, you can't see any lines on it when it wasn't marked.''

These days, the track is the first stop on an athlete's visit after a $3 million renovation that has included the installation of a nine-lane, all-weather track and an artificial FieldTurf infield.

The project will be paid for through Measure S - a $356 million bond issue approved by voters in 2002 for new construction and modernization of Ventura County Community College's three campuses.

The track will be christened Thursday when Moorpark plays host to a WSC mini-meet with West Los Angeles, College of the Canyons and Santa Barbara. It will be the Raiders' first home meet in three seasons.

A dedication ceremony will be held on March 4 before a conference meet with Valley, Ventura and Hancock. Another mini-meet will be held on April 1 with Bakersfield, Cuesta and Oxnard. Moorpark will play host to the conference preliminaries on April 16.

Green is hoping to land the Southern California heptathlon and decathlon championships next season and perhaps the regional finals or state meet in subsequent seasons.

The track has been a long time coming for Moorpark College, which has never had an all-weather facility in its 38-year history. Surrounding high schools, Moorpark, Royal, Camarillo, Westlake, Oaks Christian and Thousand Oaks have all-weather tracks.

``It's been frustrating. We've been pretty successful at Moorpark and this is like a reward,'' Green said. ``There is no way you can fund-raise for a project like this. It would take 20 years to put a track in.''

It has taken sacrifice and ingenuity to complete the project that began last April. In the fall, the track team was unable to work out in the stadium and the football team played its home games at Royal High because of the construction.

Painting of the lane lines wasn't finished until last weekend because of inclement weather. The track team only trained on the facility for the first time last Tuesday. Curbing won't be ready for the first meet.

The facility has been designed to allow the pole vault and horizontal jumps to be held in favorable winds. There are three pole vault runways and six boxes with long jump and triple jump runways running parallel to the football field sidelines with four pits.

There also are two ``D'' sector aprons at each end zone, a javelin runway, and a steeplechase water jump pit.

An electronic Lynx timing system that will flash results instantaneously on a 32-wide and 24-foot high scoreboard also will be installed. The system will not be ready for the track's opening, but it is expected to be in place for the dedication ceremony.

Concessions had to be made to keep the project within budget because of inflation and architect and contracting fees. For a savings of $100,000, a hand-poured polyurethane Rekortan surface was installed instead of a prefabricated Mondo track like those used at the Olympics and World Championships. A red surface was chosen over Moorpark's school color of blue to cut costs.

The hurdles, pole vault pits and steeplechase barriers were used at the 2004 Olympic Trials at Sacramento State and the NCAA Division II nationals at Cal Poly Pomona. They were purchased at a discounted price.

Future improvements include a permanent entrance with a donor board, a ticket booth, gating and sidewalks. Moorpark athletic director John Keever said the last phase will largely be completed through donations and fund-raising.

``It's been a labor of love,'' Moorpark athletic director John Keever said. It's been a long, slow battle.''

Coaching on an all-weather track will be a new experience for Green. The ninth-year Moorpark coach previously coached on dirt tracks at Simi Valley and Cal Lutheran.

``I used to tell athletes it's better to train on a dirt track because it doesn't beat you all up,'' Green said. I didn't get too many gripes. Now, I am going to have to get used to coaching on an all-weather track. It's going to take some adjustment.''

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Moorpark College track coach Doni Green, left, watches work being done on the school' new nine-lane all-weather track.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News