By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
ATHLETIC FACILITIES
WR High field getting $2M overhaul
WR track run

The bidding process will soon begin for Weston Ranch High's stadium improvements that are pegged at $2 million.

Trustees of the Manteca Unified School District approved the Request for Proposals for the project consisting of the installation of an all-weather track coupled with natural turf field renovations and the infrastructure to support both to be conducted in two phases at Tuesday's meeting.

The board voted 6-1, with Trustee Nancy Teicheira providing the 'no' vote. "What we do for one (school) we should do for all," she said, pointing out that Manteca High and East Union High also have stadium improvement needs.

This project along with that of the Sierra High track and field improvements were identified as priorities on the MUSD High School Field Maintenance Handbook, with the recent updates conducted by the Athletic Fields Committee.

Board Vice President Bob Wallace and Trustee Eric Duncan served on the group.

The latter had concerns with the WRHS facilities dating back way before he was elected to the board.

"We haven't used our track in three years," he said. "Our kids deserve better."

Duncan also blamed the poor field for causing injuries to countless of football players at all levels, including his son Erron Duncan, who redshirted during his freshman year with the UC Davis Aggies due in part to injuries suffered on the WRHS field during his senior year, the older Duncan said.

Director of Facilities Operations Aaron Bowers said the WRHS and SHS projects were flip-flopped.

Work on SHS consisted of renovating the existing all-weather track along with restoring the natural field turf and minor irrigation modifications as required was conducted over the summer.

The project also consisted of redoing the runways for long jump / triple jump and moving the jumping station for pole vault to the south end of the playing field at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium.

The next step, Bowers said, will be to finish the jumping events surfacing application, striping the track and doing a re-bid on the natural turf renovation project in October.

Funding is being conducted by one-time money as distributed in two installments. The second one is due in December, according to Jacqui Breitenbucher in Business Services.

Bowers noted that the fall sports schedule could be impacted if the WRHS project begins in September.

"When I coached at East Union many years ago, we played our (home) games at Manteca High," recalled Wallace. "So there are solutions to our challenges."

 

To contact reporter Vince Rembulat, e-mail vrembulat@mantecabulletin.com.