The Howard School of Academics and Technology boasts one of the nation’s best female sprinters, a girls track team that ranks fourth in the state behind her record-setting performances and a program that is growing by leaps and bounds.
What the school doesn’t have is a track that students can use.
“We have to go to other schools and practice on their track,” said LaQuisha Jackson, Howard’s 16-year-old star sprinter. “We should be practicing on our own track.”
There’s been talk of a new track and stadium for Howard for a long time.
Now, local businessman Gerald Mason and other Howard supporters are making a big push to make it happen.
They are organizing a fundraiser, the Henry Bowles Basketball Classic, to raise money for the athletic department and draw attention to the need for a track.
Mason said the group, called Friends of Howard, has had fundraisers for the athletic department in the past, but everything they’ve collected has been used for team upkeep — purchasing uniforms, transporting students and sending them to athletic camps.
For the last 18 months, though, the Friends of Howard have concentrated on the track and stadium.
“We want the community to know we’re not going away,” Mason said.
They have set their sights on a location, the former Maurice Poss Homes site owned by the Chattanooga Housing Authority, across the street from Howard.
The stadium will cost about $900,000, Mason said. It will include lights, bleachers, track, football field, locker rooms and concession stands.
Asked if it would be cheaper to rebuild a stadium at the current track, next to the school, Mason laughed.
“It’s impossible,” he said. “It’s built on a chemical dump, a landfill. It should have never been built there in the first place.”
Unsafe track
The present track is unsafe for runners, said track coach Jennifer Mitchell.
“When they run on the track in their spikes, it’s like concrete against concrete and it’s very easy for them to fall,” she said.
Foot-long holes pockmark the track, revealing concrete and gravel beneath. Weeds poke through here and there. And when it rains, a pond forms in a curve near the back scoreboard.
The coaches are responsible for track maintenance, but they couldn’t have prevented the damage, Mitchell said.
If you go* What: Henry Bowles Basketball Classic* When: Dec. 20-22* Where: Howard School of Academics and Technology gymnasium* Admission: $15 per person for all three days* To donate: Send check or money order to Friends of Howard at P.O. Box 3561, Chattanooga, TN 37404.
The track field is in a flood zone and doesn’t have good drainage, she said. In a bad flood in the late 1990s or early 2000s, water seeped under the track and damaged its foundation, she said.
The girls have practiced at the private McCallie School or Chattanooga Christian School in the past, but the team is growing and it’s inconvenient to get all of the girls there.
The 2009 season started with about 10 girls. This year 22 girls total joined the team, Mitchell said.
Last year the girls would run the half-mile to Chattanooga Christian School to use the track, and Howard coaches would follow them in cars for safety. But police stopped them for driving too slowly, Mitchell said.
The group drove the five miles to McCallie School, but it was difficult getting the team transported, she said.
The team also has no high jump or pole vault pits or equipment, she said.
Despite the challenges, the team continues to perform well.
Last year the girls placed first in statewide competition. This year, they ranked fourth — missing third place by half a point, Mitchell said.
USA Today named LaQuisha to its All USA Track Team this year after she set records in the 100- and 200-meter dash at the Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, according to news reports.
Raising funds
Mason said Howard supporters can’t pass a hat and collect $600,000 as parents did on Signal Mountain for their new stadium.
“We have to do things different,” he said.
So on Dec. 20, 21 and 22, Howard alumni and supporters are sponsoring a basketball tournament with eight boys and girls teams each from Chattanooga and across the state.
“It’s an elimination course,” said Reuben Lawrence of Friends of Howard. “We’ll crown a champion and have a most valuable player on both sides.”
The event will start Dec. 19 with a reception for Bowles, for whom the gymnasium is named.
In Bowles’ 29 years as coach, the Howard basketball team had 616 wins and 260 losses, 16 district championships and 10 regional championships. He was district coach of the year 13 times, records show.
Howard supporters also hope to get help from public officials.
Mason wants 4th District County Commissioner Warren Mackey, whose district includes Howard, and District 5 Commissioner Greg Beck to use their discretionary money for the stadium. He hopes other commissioners will kick in as well.
Beck couldn’t be reached for comment. Mackey said he gets $100,000 in discretionary funds, but not every year. He said he gets many requests for money and might not be able to use all of it on one project.
Mackey cited the new East Hamilton Middle-High School, which has more students than Howard but doesn’t have a stadium or track.
Finding a home
As for the Poss Homes site, Naveed Minhas, CHA’s vice president of development, said the housing authority is willing to discuss a land swap with the Hamilton County school system.
“Everybody needs to make it a priority to get (the stadium) on track,” he said. “It can happen if enough people want it to happen.
Charles Fair, another Howard track coach, said he’ll believe the school is getting a new track when he sees it.
“Everybody is writing about it,” Fair said.” Everybody has been talking about a track for the last five years, but I never see anybody start the work.”
He said LaQuisha has been running track with Howard since eighth grade, and he hopes she gets to see a new track before her senior year.
“The next generation,” said LaQuisha. “As long as it’s there for the next generation.”