Richey 1 Joe Richey Dr.

Hanly ENG 111 23 October 2012 Tiger Track: A Durable Comprehensive Tradition It was brought to my attention that James Davis, who heads the search for our new President, met with a council representing student-athletes for our input into the guidelines and qualifications of Georgetowns future President. On behalf of my fellow cross country and track and field teammates, honest, hard-working, innocent, and sincere to the individual who do not let having to overcome certain obstacles deter them, I would like to inform him, our possible President, and the community of our interest in an adequate facility for our sport. Since coming to Georgetown I have heard a sentiment expressed numerous times by my fellow runners, the desire for a track of our own. Georgetown has a rising track and field program and has been recruiting increasingly talented athletes. Although when the college doesnt respect the sport enough to provide an official venue for practice and competition, it is hard to dedicate time and effort to cultivate those talents. It is an insult, a form of disrespect, laced with an undertone of cultural inferiority. This cultural shortcoming, though, is another matter. From the administrations standpoint it would be a wise decision. Rumors swirl of the colleges debt; therefore there may be more immediate issues to address. However, such an investment would contribute to long-term success, stability, and profit. It would elevate the status of the track program by benefitting the team, attracting student athletes, and generating revenue, and also benefit the college by increasing enrollment and fulfilling its professed identity.

This matter is one in which I have previous experience and insight. At my high school, we did not have a track, and our coach was forced to request another schools permission to use their track for part of the year. Personally its primary purpose is to benefit the student athletes and to elevate the status of the track program. The track would accomplish this in various ways, these being logistical, psychological, and physiological. One of the logistical hindrances in borrowing the off-campus track of a local high school is that it takes time to get to and from practice. Students must hassle with whom to carpool with, rather than take a brief five minute jog. Another hassle is we have to work around the local schools use of the track. We have to set practice times based on their convenience, and some days the track might be unavailable. These hassles, erased from consciousness, would extinguish a significant amount of uncertainty and inconsistency. The where and when of day to day practice would become concrete and automatic, allowing athletes to concentrate their energy toward improving. As to psychological benefits, provided are pride and passion, motivation and inspiration intangibly born within student-athletes loins. Gone is the lackluster effort to train and improve trampolining the team across the crossroads separating ambiguous obscurity and honorable commitment. It would represent that the college respects its program and that the program is committed to excellence. It could start a tradition for future generations of athletes to uphold. It would create a history, a visual reminder, a stomping ground, a footprint of the great ones who came before us. A track to train on would benefit us physiologically. To race well on a track, you have to train on a track. From my freshman through my junior year in high school, the University of Kentucky generously let our team practice on their track, although it was decrepit, beginning in March. Junior season they began destroying the facilities in order to build a new track, and we were left without one to train on. The middle distance corps relocated to a park where the cross country

team practiced. This park did not have a flat stretch exceeding one hundred meters. The terrain was either asphalt or uneven grass. Without a four-hundred meter course that ended where it started, our coach fed us strength-oriented workouts suited for five kilometer training rather than workouts designed for symmetrically sustained speed. It was difficult to infer or pinpoint from these workouts the type of shape we were in. In addition to the unsatisfactory workouts, tracks became foreign, less familiar proving grounds. There is a certain feel traversing the oval to which one becomes accustomed. The springiness of the rubber. The give and take of jostling for position within its contours. Settling into the pace, the rhythm set by the leader drawing the snake of runners along. Instinctively moving up or letting runners pass. Leaning slightly inward coming around the final curve before leveling and powering towards the finish line, slingshoting into first. Some of these coaches have developed these into techniques; some are an intangible sixth sense. The best use this instinct to their advantage. Whereas the previous season my times dropped significantly in May, this season my times stagnated, and I failed to reach my potential for the season. A track to train on leaves athletes without a doubt as to what could have been, instead of a stone left unturned. A track would entice student athletes to consider Georgetown more seriously. Talented, committed, goal-oriented athletes would realize Georgetown is eager provide the ladder necessary to climb upward. In my experience of looking at colleges, a pristine track was definitely a motivator to attend that college. With a pristine track I could visualize myself training and racing for the program, whereas with a program without a track, there was vagueness, or haze as to the legitimacy of the program. Enticing committed athletes would increase enrollment and the physical talent of the team.

The track could generate income through several instances. As stated earlier, the attraction of student athletes would increase the enrollment and number of those paying tuition. Also it would enable the program to host a track meet, creating income from the opposing teams paying to participate, and perhaps spectators. Local high schools could pay to host their meets on our track. It could be loaned for community events, and concessions could be offered at each event. Summarizing the above premises, a home of our own would elevate Georgetown into a renowned and respected program by not only giving it a stamp of legitimacy, but by generating revenue, increasing performance, and attracting more talented student athletes. In achieving a more recognizable and respectable reputation, it would market itself, generating revenue, attracting even more superior student athletes, and performances would increase. Created is an upward cycle of prosperity and growth. It would benefit the college as well, through increasing general enrollment, and fulfilling the identity and mission of Georgetown College. At Freshman Orientation, speeches given by President Crouch and others prided the liberal arts education Georgetown provided. Liberal arts, as defined by Encyclopedia Britannica, is college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general intellectual capacities in contrast to a professional, vocational, or technical curriculum. A student is imparted with a basic knowledge of a wide range of disciplines rather than focusing exclusively on attaining expertise in one discipline. As in Georgetown Colleges Live, Learn, Believe motto, A liberal arts education strives to develop the whole person by fostering an understanding of a variety of disciplines and teaching the individual how to think with depth and flexibility. A reflection in the aspect of athletics would

reinforce Georgetowns identity as a college of liberal arts, a symbol of supporting various disciplines. Living up to its identity creates implications for prospective students who are not athletes. At such a small college where a common complaint, and usually misconception, is conservatism, building a track and field facility might be a metaphor that shows prospective students that the college respects its minorities. Not ethnic minorities, but a minority of an abstract sort. Baseball, basketball, and football are the most popular spectator sports in America. Despite tracks relative cultural unimportance, Georgetown (hypothetically speaking) adequately provided resources that enabled its athletes to pursue their potential. This would leave the impression that Georgetown supports its minorities, who have lesser known interests, regardless of endeavor and that each students personal educational pursuit and enhancement is important. Therefore it would bolster enrollment. A students possible anxiety about being alienated from the wider world in coming to this small town Kentucky college would be in part alleviated. Opposition to this proposal might argue that it is not financially prudent to build a track. In this economy and with the school in debt, it would be throwing money down the drain. While the short-term spending binge might appear irrational, it is the long-term that counts. A reliable, annual source of income would help offset the cost of the track. As stated earlier the track would increase enrollment in track athletes and non-track athletes, increasing the number of those paying tuition. Home meets could generate revenue through the spectators and the competing teams participating. Summer camps and clinics similar to Centre Colleges Maximum Velocity Track & Field Academy could be hosted. As Provost Allen said at Freshman Orientation, if there is one thing Georgetown College does and has done since its establishment, it is survive.

Possible sites include the perimeter of the football field or encircling one of the surrounding fields or plots of land in east campus. If it was built somewhere other than the football field, a long jump runway could be installed in the infield along with a high jump area and a shot put and discus ring. Another possible site would be the field adjacent to the Rec, surrounded by College, Jackson, and Military streets. This is where the colleges previous track was. A durable, comprehensive outlay would serve the college community for many years to come and become a staple of Georgetown. A track would create an upward spiral of prosperity of the cross country and track programs, and contribute to the schools long-term stability, success, and growth. It would reinforce the mission of Georgetown College, in the process becoming a progressive beacon of light and exemplar to liberal colleges near and far. Whether five or ten years from now, it should do so in order to prolong the colleges era of operation. While it might cause a temporary financial deficit, the long term benefits, financial and otherwise, are continuously more profitable. The real question is, can Georgetown College afford not to build a track? The crowd roars as the runner comes around the final turn into the home straight. The relationship between many of those in attendance and the runner is but one of the stands. Yet they felt they had come to know the runner as time and time again he displayed a raw, tenacious ambition. They had often seen him pass through the roads and neighborhoods on a routine basis, in rain, wind, snow, or shine, day or night, morning and afternoon. They attended a track to see just what this was all about, and were swept up in the all but violent competition. The frantic chorus of shouts of spectators urging the athletes clouded their ears and sent their hearts wild as hurdles barely cleared mere feet away and continued charging down the track at dangerous speeds, an inch away from disaster.

He pumps his arms and his neck and facial muscles tighten into a grimace. Straining to move his legs faster he can barely lift his knees. It feels like his whole body is in a spasm as his spikes claw the track and he cant cover ground fast enough. He is not letting the stalking runners decrease the distance between them. He crosses the line in first, completely spent. What drove him to win? This is his home track, and he is unafraid to expose the pain he is willing to undergo to defend it. It is the final home meet of his senior season and a conclusion to a historic career containing school records, accomplishments, and accolades. His sweat had dripped and saturated the track. The track had felt his footsteps and heard his gasp for air. The track had witnessed many breakthrough workouts now buried in the canons of a running log. He had come full circle (pun intended). Such prideful deeds and passionate exploits happen often at home tracks around the country, and those deeds become part of who that person is. This vision, for now at least, remains a wistful dream to be savored by future generations of Tiger track athletes. But it shall be a prominent project on the Presidents agenda.