Pirates getting a new track

Roger Carlson

COSTA MESA - It took some 35 years before decay would finally

dictate, but time can do a lot of things, among them providing the focal

point for the necessity of an all-weather track and field facility at

Orange Coast College.

Work begins on Monday at Coast for the installation of a red

polyurethane and rubber-surfaced track which will be impermeable and

encapsulated, according to Pirates Athletic Director Jane Hilgendorf,

fulfilling one of her key objectives in her three-year reign as the

school’s athletic director.

The facility will meet NCAA and International Amateur Athletic

Federation specs, and will include all necessary markings in order to run

a high school meet there, as well.

The track will be closed until the work is completed, which is

scheduled to last some 100 days, depending on weather conditions.

That takes it into December, still long before the track and field

season begins in February.

“It’s going to be a state-of-the-art, first-class facility,” said an

enthusiastic Hilgendorf, of the project.

The key to the facility comes in the form of former track and field

and cross country coach Jim McIlwain, who had been promised a new,

all-weather facility when he accepted the post at Coast in 1965.

The first of today’s oil gouges came in the late ‘60s, blowing prices

out of control for the rubber-based track, if indeed it had a chance

under any normal circumstance.

Then came Proposition 13 in 1978 with any and all projects submarined.

Finally, in 1982, an attempt to get it right fell through when ARCO

decided on six or seven all-weather facilities in the Los Angeles area as

training sites leading up to the 1984 Olympic Games. Orange Coast’s

application was turned down.

“We were still with a 440-yard track and everything is in meters,”

said McIlwain, who retired from coaching in 1978 after distinguishing

himself as one of the best in JC coaching ranks. “We simply couldn’t

host meets.”

McIlwain is presently the Vice President of Administrative Services at

Coast, which he says equates to the school’s “business manager.”

Coast’s only ally became time and with concrete curbs beginning to

decay came the safety hazard, forcing the Coast Community College

District to see the light.

“Before, it would have been nice to have,” said McIlwain. “Now, it’s a

matter of need.”

So, everything comes in time, right Coach McIlwain?

“Oh, it wasn’t too long, just about 35 years,” responded McIlwain with

a chuckle.

“But things are falling apart, like my old body.”

Current OCC track and field coach Fred Hokanson said he felt like he

was in the middle of a dream sequence.

“It’s hard to believe,” said Hokanson. “All of the things we thought

of for 30 years trying to get something done, then all of a sudden, out

of the blue ..”

As for high school meets, they would appear to be available for dual

meets for Estancia or Costa Mesa, should the schools apply. The rub is

one pit for the long jump and triple jump, for boys and girls, perhaps

requiring a 2 p.m. start in the event.

“That would be great,” said Costa Mesa Coach John Carney. “If we had

our meet with Estancia at Orange Coast, a once-a-year thing. One pit?

That’s not a problem. But, there are possible fees.”

The general speculation is that user fees will be waived, although it

is in the hands of the Community Education Dept., an entity outside the

realm of Hilgendorf & Co.

“We’d love to have that (Costa Mesa vs. Estancia) happen,” said

Hilgendorf. “I’ll be going to (OCC President) Margaret (Gratton) about

that question right away.”

Hokanson echoed Hilgendorf’s comments.

“It’s not my decision, but we want to work with our local high

schools,” said Hokanson.

High school invitationals would not appear to be in the near future

because of the shortage of seating at the Coast facility, although they

are not ruled out.

In fact, Carney raised the question of a Newport-Mesa District Meet,

involving Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, Estancia and Costa Mesa, a

renewal of a district meet which went on for years during the ‘70s in the

Bob Hailey era of Newport Harbor track and field.

Charlie Appell, a teacher on the OCC campus who is Estancia’s boys

track and field coach, as well as the boys and girls cross country coach,

called the renovation of Coast’s facility a “very positive thing.”

“It really helps the community and it’s going to help Orange Coast,

because it will attract kids. They’ve been on a dirt track for so long

here,” said Appell.