Grand Forks Red River boys track and field coach Bob Zimney is in his 37th year of coaching the Roughriders and 33rd season as head coach.
Zimney retired as a math teacher at Red River recently, but there is at least one reason he's not ready to quit coaching.
"Not with that new facility," Zimney said. "I've got to stick around at least one more year, right?"
Zimney and the other three Grand Forks high school coaches are eagerly awaiting a new track surface at Cushman Field, as well as artificial turf on the football field, which is expected to be ready for the 2011-12 school year.
In the meantime, the Red River and Grand Forks Central boys and girls track teams will have to make do without any home meets or hometown track to practice on this spring.
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"It's bittersweet for the seniors who are missing out on (the new track)," Red River girls coach Tracey Heisler said. "It's going to be a little challenging for us, and we're going to have to be creative in how we practice. But the kids seem up to the challenge.
"We're going to have to find some parks and different areas to run on. We'll change up the practices a little bit to meet whatever needs we have."
The Grand Forks teams have been using the Cushman track for the past two weeks, but coaches expect construction crews to arrive by the end of the month.
At that point, the teams will combat the lack of a practice track by using UND's Memorial Stadium as much as possible, especially once the spring semester ends in mid-May.
The teams have also inquired about using the East Grand Forks Senior High School track. Red River and Central had scheduled its only home meet at Senior High. But that meet, scheduled today, was canceled because of Friday's snowfall.
Coincidentally, East Grand Forks officials are also working on a plan for major reconstruction of that track as well.
Local teams have already gotten more use out of Cushman this spring than some had thought.
"I didn't think we'd have a track at all this spring," Central girls coach Eric Polries said. "I thought we'd be in the streets and in the school all year, but we should be able to use UND a little this spring.
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"All of the coaches have had workouts in the back of their minds in case we didn't have a track. We've been lucky so far. If it comes down to it, if we have to use parks or bike paths, we'll make it work. Our kids know what to expect. They'll adjust."
Being one season away from a new facility has eased the pain of this year's practice hurdles.
"It's going to be an outstanding facility," Central boys coach Sean Allan said. "We're really excited to be able to host quality meets. It'll also help recruiting and create excitement."
Miller reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1121; (800) 477-6572, ext. 121; or send e-mail to tmiller@gfherald.com .
