If you like meet venue, tell ’em so! My love letter to PLNU
PLNU track overlooks Pacific
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Last Saturday, in my final meet of a memorable season, I ran the 200 at the San Diego Senior Olympics. Time wasn’t earthshaking — just 29.36 — but it was my fastest legal deuce in tres años. (I’m 55.) Later, while exchanging notes with meet director and announcer Dixon Farmer, he suggested that if I want the Senior Olympics to retain Point Loma Nazarene University as the San Diego Senior Olympic track venue, I should send the AD (athletic director) a note. Well, here it is. If you’re also a Point Loma fan, please consider sending Ethan Hamilton a similar note. I also CC’d the note to Steven Riddle, assistant AD for facilities. Or write any meet host whose event you appreciated. We do enough meet-bashing. Time for some meet-boosting.Â
Here’s my note:
Dear Mr. Hamilton,
I’m writing to thank you for making your track available again to the San Diego Senior Olympics. It was a delight to run on the seaside facility for the second time this season.Â
Earlier, I ran season bests at Point Loma in the USATF San Diego-Imperial Association Open Championships. My wind-aided sprint times gave me a good boost in my preparations for the world masters championships in Lahti, Finland, and my 200 time Saturday (which won the M55 age group) was my fastest legal time in three years.
Truth be told, your track is to runners/jumpers/throwers what Torrey Pines is to golfers — an ocean-view nirvana. The prevailing breeze brings down the late-summer temps, and the friendly folks running the event add to the ambiance with great spirit and professionalism.
I also appreciate the instant feedback of the portable trackside signboard that shows the times for every lane in the just-completed race. Whoever ran the FAT system and the signboard Saturday deserves a raise! Â
Over the years, I’ve competed at UCSD, San Diego State’s sports deck, MiraCosta College, Cal State San Marcos, Cuyamaca College and several high schools with all-weather tracks. Most have great natural settings, befitting our paradise of San Diego. But none can touch the beauty and setting of the track at Point Loma Nazarene.
Older folks like myself have a special appreciation for good tracks and environments. We hope you’ll make your track (at reasonable cost) available to the San Diego Senior Games Association for many years to come!
Great job! Â Keep it up!
Ken Stone
La Mesa, California
founder and co-webmaster,
http://www.masterstrack.com
7 Responses
My daughter, Amanda Houlton Saltin, ran track and cross country at Point Loma for four years. I will never forget the first time I saw that fantastic facility — I couldn’t believe how beautiful the setting was. I think the now-deceased “Sunbonnet Sue” who frequented the master circuit for many years, donated a large amount towards the dream of the track’s construction. The college has always had good teams and great coaches. I hope they continue to welcome masters for years to come.
My pictorial coverage of the Pt. Loma facilities is at:
http://trackinfo.org/HostTrackPics/PLNU.html
It is a beautiful place – I hope to run there sometime now that I have family members living in San Diego.
Sunbonnet Sue – wow – I remember her – saw her for the first time I think at the WAVA meet in Eugene in 1989. She was quite a character – glad to know she contributed to the building of what looks like a very nice facility with a fabulous view.
Three years ago Nadine and I made arrangements to Practice at the PLNU facilities. It is a beautiful place. One day we were out practicing the discus on the discus facility. Steve Riddle saw us and yelled at us to stop throwing the discus. It was the discus facility where all the PLNU students practice, but he was nevertheless very ugly about telling us to get discus off his “precious grass.”
We made arrangements with the track coach to use the pole vault pit. He agreed to leave the standards out so we could vault during the summer. We were very appreciative of having a place to vault and contributed $500 to the University for the summer use. Shortly thereafter Steve locked up the standards so that we could not use them. As an alternative I decided to tie a couple of poles to two hurdles on each side of the pit and string a bungee up to practice jumping over. Steve saw me dragging a hurdle across the grass and went ballistic. He screamed at me in an ugly hostile manner and told us to get off his track right then and there and not ever come back. He apparently thought that I was doing irreparable damage to “his grass.” I could not see any marks at all left from my dragging the hurdle. I would have carried it except for my bad knees.
This whole experience with Steve Riddle left a really bad in my mouth and I still feel it now, three years later. Since Ken brought Steve’s name up as someone to express appreciation to, I would like to take this opportunity to express complete and abject disgust with him for his attitude and actions. I think he is a despicable human being who ought not have any position of authority over anything.
I wrote a letter to the president of the university about Steve, but he just had one of his vice presidents write me a letter of appeasement, obviously not taking my comments about Steve seriously.
As a result of Steve Riddle’s actions and the administration’s lack of concern. I continue to have hostile feelings toward PLNU. It is a beautiful campus, but there is no beauty in Steven Riddle. I would like to encourage everyone in track and field to have some reservations about the complements they bestow on the place.
By the way, it is a terrible place to vault. The wind is very inconsistent and change direction two or three times during every approach.
are you kidding me? his job is at stake should something happen using his facility….he did it for liability purposes, I’m certain..
Use of facilities are best done through the athletic department and not through coaches.
Coaches may be easier to deal with – in some cases – , but for liability reasons, the university itself needs to be giving the approval. Think for a minute what would have happened if there were an injury using “standards” made from hurdles and poles. Or if they were left there and someone else used them and had problems.
Athletic departments may also be able to override a coach’s decision.
Steve
Apparently they irrigated the grass the night before. That plus the overcast sky and the natural ocean air moisture created a very wet field. I was unable to dry the bottom of my throwing shoes and had a lot of trouble slipping on the concrete shot put ring. So much that I had to stand and throw as I was concerned about injuring myself. Maybe they might take that into account next time and not water the night before.
Beautiful facility, people nice otherwise-just had my problems with footing.
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