Stanley High School gets $1M upgrades to outdoor sports facility

A project two years in the making is finally complete at Stanley High School. The school was in major need of an updated track and football area.

“One was to replace our lighting. We had eight light poles in here before with wires all across the facility now we have zero wires with four light poles and it is very bright out here during a football game at night,” Heath Hetzel, helped with renovation project, said. “The track, we tore up the old track which was room for six lanes and this track is an eight-lane track big enough for regional meets and things like that.”

Brand new to the complex is a grandstand and press box.

Head Track Coach Tonya Reum said the new surface of the track isn’t just for looks it’ll hopefully decrease the chance of potential injuries.

“The surface of the track will help because we had asphalt before which we had a lot of shin problems a lot of leg problems people that were getting injured and so I think that will help with the top surface,” Reum said.

She also said having a full track painted for meets will allow her athletes to practice every day like it’s a competition.

They were also able to get another new addition.

“Now we have pole vault for the first time and so now we will be able to host meets hopefully get the region meet sometime coming up,” Reum said. “And we also have a long jump and triple jump which we have not had those areas to practice before.”

With the new lights, the football team will be able to play a real Friday Night lights game.

“Last year we were only able to have one game under the lights and we ended up starting at 5 o’clock so it wasn’t much of a night game,” Bob Bartz, Head Football Coach, said. “It was just fun to get out and have everybody excited and everybody go to experience an actual Friday Nights under the lights.”

Overall, the project cost about $1.2 million, and the school had help from many donors and fundraisers.