There are many rumors going around here at NUHS. Currently, many of them have to do with why baseball, softball, and track and field teams aren’t using the facilities at the new school location. We decided to get the right story and put the rumors to a stop. We had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Assistant Principle and Activities Director, Mr. Guentzel. We discovered there are no issues with the track itself. However, the field underwent some ground settling issues and there were also issues with grading. When performing Shot Put and Discus events, there isn’t enough room to allow two people to throw at the same time on each event. Usually during MSHSL Track and Field meets there are two people competing on Shot Put and two people competing on Discus at one time. The current field situation does not allow two people to be throwing at the same time on one event. We also questioned the situation with the pole vault. Mr. Guentzel assured us there are no issues with the Pole Vault and it is completely safe to use. With Long and Triple Jump, there are new boards replacing painted lines, so there are no issues with that event besides the fact that they will need more sand.

The Softball and Baseball fields are another story. The reason why the teams are unable to play and practice there is because they are still waiting for the grass seed to grow. Many people believe the two fields are too close together and there is a concern with safety. Mr. Guentzel only mentioned there may be a slight concern with foul balls that could be hit. However, the Varsity Softball and Baseball team will only host a home game on the same day once this year. He said they are able to work on staggering starts and making time adjustments to enforce the safety of the players.

Mr. Guentzel stated, “We were very optimistic.” Although there are a few adjustments that need to be made, all of these things are fixable. With a brand new facility, there were many changes that were made and administration wasn’t completely sure how easily we could transition. Now that they are aware of the issues, they can understand what needs to be fixed.