During her 34 years in the district, Sue Wright has seen plenty of transformations take place at Wright City High School. A staple in the program, Wright has witnessed new sports being added and countless minor improvements to the athletic facilities. But no single upgrade has brought Wright the level of excitement she feels heading into the 2011 track and field season. That’s because the district will unveil its new all-weather track following the completion of a makeover to the entire outdoor sports complex. “I’m like a little kid in a candy store,” quipped Wright. “I never thought in my tenure of teaching at Wright City that this would ever happen. I’m elated. This is just awesome!” The eight-lane, weather resistant surface is a considerable step up from the weed-riddled gravel track that had been detoriating over the past three decades. Wright says the old track was already in place when she arrived. It was the standard in the 1980s, but over the past decade it has become outdated in comaprison to neighboring schools. “At the beginning of my tenure, everybody had gravel or cinders on their track,” recalled Wright. “For awhile, ours was pretty good. In the last 10 years it has gone downhill. We ended up not putting a lot of work into it, so it just wasn’t very good.” Beyond the track, the school also installed a new enclosed shot put area and a pair of jumping sand pits with paved runways. There is also a discus area and pole vaulting launch, but additional concrete work must be completed before those stations can be utilized. The Wildcats will debut their new digs on Thursday when they host the Wright City Warmup event. “It’s a pride thing too,” said Wright. “These kids should hold their heads up high, because we’ve got some really cool stuff here.” The Wright City track program has prospered in recent years, despite its limited resources. Wright has coached multiple athletes to state, bringing home hardware on several occasions. “We’ve had a lot of athletes who were very successful on what weren’t very good facilities,” said Wright. She says its rewarding to finally see her competitors get some safe, reliable equipment. “The best part is that our kids are finally going to have exactly what other people have, and they’re well-deserving,” said Wright. “I’m really excited for the kids to have top notch facilities.” One athlete in particular that will reap the benefits is senior Deon Bradshaw. He managed to qualify for the MSHSAA Championships in both the long jump and triple jump last year. Bradshaw’s accomplishment was made more noteworthy by the fact he went an entire season without any type of sandpit to use for practice. Aside from infrequent trips west to use Warrenton’s facilities, Bradshaw’s only practice was during the actual meets. “It’s nice to have own now, because I didn’t get to go to Warrenton very much last year,” said Bradshaw. “I really had to watch the board and count my steps out at the meets, since I couldn’t work on them here.” That will no longer be a concern, as he has two separate runways with sandpits on each end to work with. “Now I’ll be able to get my steps down and work on the second phase of my jumps,” said Bradshaw. He’s certainly not the only athlete that will benefit from the upgrades. The wide track and substantial number of lanes has enabled the relay teams better ability to work on their handoffs. “We can now jump in pits that are exceptional and get our steps down perfect,” said Wright. “Our relay teams don’t have to worry about counting out steps, because everything is marked.” Limited in space and always at the mercy of the weather, practices were unpredictable in the past. Now there seems to zero limitations, with different events breaking up by station and practicing uninterrupted. “The kids aren’t going to know what to do being able to go out and practice with more than 10 hurdles,” quipped Wright. Senior Erik Hunter says he is particularly excited about building on his ability in the 300-meter hurdles. He managed to qualify for sectionals last year amidst the adversity. “I’m glad it was finished this year, so I get to use it for a season,” said Hunter. “I’m sure it’s going to help us out.” The Wildcats are already seeing the benefits of the new surface. The team was able to practice immediately after a downpour last week, as the track drained immediately. Wright is just anxious to see how much farther the facilities can help carry her team this season. “There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s going to be help us be faster,” said Wright.