When Dan Boggan took over the Sexton track program as head boys coach he vowed to return the Big Reds to the top levels of state competition. He remembered his high school days when Sexton dominated the local track scene and carried home state titles. They did it with speedy sprinters and hurdlers, stand out performers in the middle distances and precision exchanges that spawned points in the relays.

In recent years Boggan's teams have duplicated that formula to garner two straight Capital Area Athletic Conference titles and a runner-up finish in the Division II state meet.

The Big Reds have continued on their march this season, posting indoor victories in the Laker Challenge at Grand Valley State Universary, the Central Michigan Relays and the Huron Relays. Outdoors they ran off with the Grand Rapids Pepsi Invitational before posting three straight league dual meet victories.

The latest was a 86-81 victory over arch-rival, Grand Ledge and a 116-51 win over Jackson in a double dual meet.

Sexton swept the sprints and hurdles, with Kevin Lawson winning the 100 and 200 meter dashes with times of 10.9 and 22.4, and Jacob Wyatt winning the 400 meters with a 50.5. Tymal won both hurdles with times of 15.0 in the highs and 39.7 in the lows. Jon Allen won the long jump and Kevin Jackson took the pole vault, topping 11-6. Grand Ledge held sway from the 800 meters up, sweeping 1600 and 3200 meter runs. Sexton's Jon Boles won the shot put and discus.

It was the relays that settled the matter with Sexton taking the 4x200 and the day's final event, the mile relay to record the margin of victory. A botched exchange disqualified Sexton in the 4x100 event to force the issue. Grand Ledge won the 4x800 relay, and was disqualified in the mile race.

Lawson, Dodd, Wyatt and Brian Tucker teamed to win the 4x200 and Brian Merrill, Maruc Cousins, Ervin Milton and Terrell Blackwell won the 4x400. The Big Reds took three of four places in the 100 meters with Jordon Hinton and Jon Allen placing third and fourth to join Lawson.

"I figured out what I have to do," said Kevin Jackson. The Sexton High School senior smiled as he prepared to put his pole away after missing on his final attempt to clear 12 feet. He had placed first in the double dual meet with arch-rival, Grand Ledge and Jackson April 27, and he thought he'd discovered what it would take to the height next time out.

In past year's that would have been the next day in practice, this season he won't get a chance to try his solution until he competes in the next meet. After five weeks of practice outdoors on their track, the reconstruction of the Sexton football facility and field has Sexton's boys and girl's track teams looking for a home.

"It's a serious problem for us," said Sexton's boys coach, Dan Boggan, "especially in a year when we're contending for a state championship . . . It might not have been such a big problem if we had known we weren't going to have our track and had made other plans before the season started."

That lack of planning resulted from an apparent lapse in communication. Sexton practiced outdoors from March 8 until April 14 when the school board ordered the teams to stop, citing liability concerns stemming from students engaging in activities in a construction zone.

Lansing School District Athletic Director, Bill Bupp, said that he had received a direct order to stop using the track until further notice. "They never should have begun using the track before the contractor completed work," said Greg Weatherspoon, the administrator managing the district's multi-million dollar construction effort. "We had hoped we could be able to use the track by now," he said, "but that didn't happen. We can't allow students in the area until we get approval from the contractor."

Bupp said that he was not aware of the details of the construction schedule and the need to get approval before allowing resumption of use of the track. Since the track itself was not a part of the construction, he had assumed that the teams could use the track once construction had progressed to a point that students could use it safely without interfering with the work.

Construction on the project is nearly complete, and everyone is hoping the teams can get back on the track soon. "It could be as soon as next week," said Carole Cool, project manager for Schools First, a joint venture involving Clark and Granger construction companies.

The football field is at a critical stage of growth and one of the remaining tasks is seeding the lawn around the track area. Apparently, the principal liability concerns have more to do with responsibility for any damage to the work completed than concerns for the student safety. Cool said that they will visit the site in the next few days to determine progress and will meet with district officials Monday.

"I'll provide a completion schedule and we'll work things out. "Whether or not they can use the track will be the district's call."