Dugway High School has not hosted a track meet in six years, but will host three track meets this year thanks to a refurbished track paid for by the U.S. Army. The first of the trio of meets was held on Thursday with Tooele, Grantsville, Dugway and Wendover high schools participating.

Dugway High School track coach Dave McClesky said that 225 students from the four Tooele County high schools participated in the meet.

“It has been 10 years since this track has been in good repair and we are so glad to have it for this meet,” said Dugway High School principal Robin Nielson prior to a ribbon-cutting ceremony organized by Dugway Proving Ground and the high school.

Col. Robert E. Jones, Jr., commander of Dugway Proving Ground, told the audience at the ceremony that plans to upgrade the track all started with a conversation about a need to provide a quality running surface for soldiers and, more importantly, students.

“This track is the result of Garrison efforts led by Tony Cox, Garrison manager. I hope you understand that sometimes just starting a conversation can help to get things done. You students need to take care of the area and we need your feedback to continue to make this a great facility,” Jones said.

After the short speeches, Jones, students chosen by their coaches, and Dugway soldiers carrying the Dugway flag ran the first lap around the track.

Student runners included James Dettle, Marlene Fahnestock, Dugway; Ben Graff, Rachel Topham, Grantsville; Morgan Palmer, Jacob Lambert, Tooele; and Cody Marcu, Wendover.

After circling the track, Jones broke through the ribbon and the other soldiers and athletes followed as students cheered.

Tooele County School District representative Daniel Johnson, director of secondary education, also attended the ceremony.

“Honestly this is the best track in the district; an eight-lane track of this quality is great. I am excited for Dugway High School and I can tell the students are proud,” he said. “I am thankful we have leaders such as Col. Jones and others. The school district and board of education understand that without the efforts of the Army this track would not have become a reality.”

McClesky is ecstatic about the new track and what it will mean to his athletes at Dugway.

“We were very honored that all the county schools came out and pitched in with this inaugural meet. We haven’t hosted a track meet here in six years. We used to host them regularly when we had a six-lane track. This year we will be able to host Region 18 and Region 17 track meets. We’ll be able to see some of the top track teams in 1A early in the year and gage our progress. Before we wouldn’t see them until later in the year at the BYU Invitational or at the state meet,” McClesky said.

“The whole community helped out with the track meet on Thursday,” he said. “Coach Al Bottema from Tooele was our starter and we had a great meet.”

The Dugway coach predicts a successful season for his team.

“We want to win the region, but we also want to make an impact at the state meet,” he said. “Dugway has had a great track tradition in the past and we want to return to prominence. We started with a great cross country season.

“When we got back from state basketball the kids were chomping at the bit to get out on the new track but it was inclement weather so we worked out inside. On Monday of last week was the first time the kids were able to use the new track and they were so excited. All we need now is a high jump pad,” the coach said.

Tooele scored 267 points in boys competition followed by Grantsville with 116, Dugway 52 and Wendover 21.

Tooele scored 204 points in girls competition followed by Grantsville with 149, Dugway 46 and Wendover 24.

Individual results from the meet will be published in Thursday’s edition of the Transcript-Bulletin.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com