The Peterson Boys Prep Invitational, a track meet that for 52 years has honored the man whose name is on the Kaneland High School athletic field, features an unfortunate twist this year.
It will take place Saturday at West Aurora High School. Which has a whole lot of Kaneland parents upset.
No, make that downright angry because the reason for this relocation is the same reason the girls team will also be at West High on Friday for a home meet.
It’s the same reason, in fact, there will be no track and field competitions held at Peterson Field this year: The track has been deemed unsafe by high school administration. This came after a Kaneland sophomore’s spikes got stuck in one of the many patched areas after he cleared a hurdle, sending the talented athlete to the ground and fracturing a bone in his hand that may require surgery, his parents said.
Luke’s mother and father, Madeline and Ken Gadomski, are working with an attorney regarding the conditions of the track. And the couple was among the more than two dozen Kaneland parents who met for three hours on Sunday evening at the Elburn Fire Station to not only express their frustrations but figure out a plan of action that will help convince the school board at its meeting April 29 to approve spending an estimated $500,000 to $600,000 that will literally get the facility back on track.
Unfortunately, this is not a new controversy.
The track has been in bad condition for quite a while now. Built in 1976, it has not been resurfaced since 1997, even though this maintenance process – laying down, then leveling and gluing up to a half-inch of recycled tires – is supposed to take place every 10 years.
Last May the school board heard how dire the situation had become from head track Coach Andy Drendel and Director of Buildings and Grounds Mark Payton, who pleaded for action after learning the Capital Improvements Plan contained no major overhauls for the track until 2028.
The situation became more critical following the failure of a 2023 referendum that would have included much-needed upgrades for Kaneland athletic facilities. But the injury in late February to Lucas Gadomski brought this debate to the forefront again, only this time parents are applying more pressure to the board and administration, the latter of which, they say, has not been supplying all the pertinent facts regarding the issue.
Sheila Albano, a Kaneland alum whose children have graduated but is still one of the school’s leading boosters, led Sunday’s meeting that laid out a detailed timeline showing that since 2007 coaches have requested track maintenance be completed. It also noted at a 2016 board meeting that the Capital Improvements Plan considered the track as “very high priority – may be a safety priority.” A year later, a $450 patch job took the place of a $5,000 repair, while in 2018, the Harter Middle School track, nine years old at the time, was resurfaced on schedule for $68,497, according to the timeline presented at the meeting Sunday.
Because maintenance of the high school track has been ignored for so long, the fix has become that much more expensive, said Albano, adding that it would be a mistake for the board to rely on a referendum to address this quagmire, as there is little optimism another attempt will be any more successful than the last.
As a few parents also pointed out, you can’t tie the maintenance of a track to a referendum, especially when the safety of the students must be a top priority.
Albano pointed out that in July the board voted to hold off yet again on major track repairs in favor of putting $500,000 toward resurfacing parking lots, including the bus lot. According to board minutes, the reasoning behind this decision included a potential referendum win and the desire to make major changes to the track that would cost more than the estimated $600,000.
In a response to my request for an interview, Kaneland administration stated that “all the available information regarding the condition of the track will be shared at the next school board meeting on April 29, where we look look forward to providing more information …”
Kaneland School Board President Addam Gonzales echoed that response when I spoke with him. But parents at Sunday’s meeting certainly had plenty to say, including Christina Lechocki and Jill Holmes, whose daughters are runners and both are out with injuries, which they insist is far more common than ever before.
But it’s also what the poor track conditions are doing to the mental health of these young athletes, said Lechocki, who is concerned these students, who went through so much with the pandemic, “can’t even compete on their home turf,” including those special Senior Nights, which are always held in conjunction with competitions.
Instead, I was told, the boys will hold Senior Night this year at the end-of-season awards program, while the girls will do a Senior Night dinner right on the track where they can practice but not compete.
“School districts smaller than ours have much better facilities,” said Lechocki, adding that students and parents are “embarrassed that kids from other schools don’t want to come here” for fear of being injured.
“What this says to them,” she added, “is that Kaneland does not care about me.”
Ralph Drendel, who is not only a Kaneland alum, retired teacher, athletic director and coach but also the father of the boys’ head track coach, counts himself among the many frustrated.
“The money is there to make this right,” he said. “It just needs to be shifted.”
Drendel, by the way, will be announcing on Saturday at the Peterson Boys Prep Invitational, which Kaneland won last year. And, as much as he appreciates West Aurora allowing the Knights to use its field for the track meet, he can’t help but note the irony.
“West Aurora has a great facility. And it will be a fun event. But how sad that, for the first time in 52 years we are not running this meet in our coach’s honor” at the field that bears his name.
After Sunday’s meeting, Albano told me she felt “gratified by the turnout, support and willingness of parents to get involved and help us get out full and accurate information.”
The results “have been phenomenal,” she added. “It is and has been my opinion if you present your case fully to the people of Kaneland School District, they will come through for you.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
