A new era dawned on the Saxony Lutheran Track and Field team. The school hosted nine teams in its first ever home track meet on April 27.
The Perryville, Jackson, and Cape Girardeau Chambers of Commerce held a dedication ceremony before the Saxony Lutheran Small School Last Chance Open on that day at the Larry Cleair Track and Soccer Field Complex.
Saxony Lutheran track coach Max Weiser said it was definitely a different routine for the team on race day.
“You kind of get into a rhythm,” Weiser said. “You get on the bus and ride to the meet and have about 30 minutes before we compete. Now we get out of school and race where we practice, it’s different. It’s a good feeling to host other schools, that have hosted us for years at our place. It’s an adjustment though because I had kids tell me that it felt more like practice than a meet.”
Weiser said that the meet did not keep team scores, but that several of his athletes set personal bests in times and distances. Weiser hopes that Saxony can host smaller meets like this one for years into the future.
The cost of the new track and field was approximately $400,000 and was paid for by donations from parents and supporters of the school. The project was spearheaded by former coach Larry Cleair, who Weiser believed was the right choice for the dedication.
“It’s just coming full circle,” Weiser said. “He was a big reason for a lot of the funds for the track, but also for everything he has done for the school as a whole. The time he put in with the kids, and he won a couple championships along the way. Naming the track after coach Cleair is well deserved.”
Saxony has been able to practice on the track since 2019, when it was just asphalt. The track has since added a rubber surface. Weiser, who was is a 2008 graduate of Saxony Lutheran and a former track athlete said that when he participated in the program back then, the team practiced in a grass field on campus and then moved to the school parking lot years later.
“Coach Cleair burned a 400-meter circle into the grass so that would give us some idea of how far we were going,” Weiser said. “We had to worry about cars pulling in and out and it’s not going to give you the same feel on turns and relays. There’s just so many things that we couldn’t do without a track that we can do now.”
Back in his running days, Weiser felt that it was “normal” for Saxony not to have a track and to run on the parking lot.
With Saxony Lutheran losing a track season last spring, there aren’t too many athletes that have experienced the old ways of things for the team and only experienced practicing on a track. Weiser is glad that this is now the new “normal.”
“For the kids I’m sure that it’s nice not having to dodge high school drivers while running a 400-meter,” he said.
