By Emily Wemhoff

[nggallery id=115]The renovated athletic facilities at STA are scheduled to be completed by Saturday.  STA updated the soccer, softball, and lacrosse fields and built an eight lane track and javelin pit. The project was started early this summer.
According to president Nan Bone and athletic director Mark Hough, the administration felt the track and field was necessary to prevent athletes’ injuries, to be able to host home games on a regulation field and to provide practice facilities comparable with opposing schools.
“We want our women to have the best whole education at St. Teresa’s, not just academics, but also athletics,” Bone said. “We feel the track just completes our beautiful campus. Our athletes will finally be here practicing in our own backyard.”
A regulation size track and field was also a need among many schools close to STA, including UMKC, according to Bone.  Bone came to the conclusion that in urban Kansas City, where there is not a lot of space, the two schools could make a smaller footprint and be more environmentally friendly by building only one track. UMKC will rent the facility for practices beginning in the fall of 2011 only during school hours so as not to disturb STA athletes.
Bone, Hough and the STA development department decided to use gold and black Mondotrack, the same running surface used in the last nine Olympics, for the track. According to Mondoworldwide.com, the surface, known for its safety and comfort, has greater shock absorption and a higher energy return.
According to Bone, the field will have the STA seal in the center, put in after the whole artificial turf is laid out.The turf on the field will have the same characteristics as natural grass, but it will also have the capability to drain when it rains.  Netting was put in behind the soccer field on the east and west sides to allow for multiple athletes to be working at once and to block soccer and lacrosse balls from hitting track and field athletes and cars.

“This [track] will be one of the best in the city,” Bone said. “We wanted to make sure the opportunity for many of our girls to be practicing at once was available. Someone could be practicing their golf swings in the middle, while others could be running around the track working on their times.”
As well as a new field, new batting cages are being built close to the tennis courts.
“This will allow multiple batters to hit rather than having to go one at a time in the equipment room,” senior varsity softball player Amanda Florido said.
In previous years, the softball team has had to cancel many home games as a result of problems with rain drainage on the field, according to Florido. With the new Mondo sport turf, the field will be rain friendly and athletes will be able to use it more often. According to Hough, some aspects of the softball field, including a collapsible outfield fence, can be removed for the soccer and lacrosse seasons.
Many athletes at STA feel that with the addition of the new track and field, their teams will be able to improve and be more focused in their studies.
“I think [the track team’s] grades will improve because we won’t waste study time in car rides to practice,” sophomore Clare Mitchell said.  “More girls will definitely show up to practice because the new track has easier access.”
Florido agrees that with the new field and batting cages, the softball team will be able to compete at a higher level.
At least half of the funds for the track still need to be raised, according to Bone. The track will be paid for through rental opportunities, donations, various fundraisers and corporate sponsorships.
According to Bone, one fundraiser available to alumnae or current students in STA sports is the purchasing of a gold star that says the athlete’s name and graduation year. These will eventually be put on each of the fence posts surrounding the track.
Even with a mid-October end date, there will still be more to do after this time, according to Bone.
“The city requires us to have a sidewalk around the track, more landscaping will need to be done, and the black fence surrounding the whole thing still has to be built,” Bone said.

When the track is completed, Bone and Hough plan on having a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the new track and field. The date for the ceremony is still tentative though, because they do not know if they should wait until the spring when the athletes actually take the new field for the first time. The track should be ready for use around the end of this month.
“We are excited to bring so many of our teams back to campus to practice and play in a first-class facility that they will be proud of,” Hough said. “The new facility will be one of a kind, built specifically for the needs of St. Teresa’s Academy.”