David Reinhardt and a group of his committee members each grabbed a post and carefully took down their red tent, which had stood near the finish line of the Strider Field track.
It was late Sunday afternoon and after four days, nearly 1,200 athletes and countless races and field events in six different age groups, the Chautauqua Striders, the host of the USATF Region 2 Junior Olympic meet, were finally closing up shop.
There was no music playing over the public-address system, but it might have been appropriate if someone had slipped in a CD that belted out a verse of "Happy Birthday."
Kind of corny, I know, but in a year in which the Striders are celebrating three decades of existence, they sure picked a great way to throw a track and field party.
"Honestly,'' said Reinhardt, the meet director and the Striders' program director, as he finally sat down for one of the few times all weekend, "there was a point during the 400-meter finals when I didn't want it to end.''
In other words, the athletes, officials, parents and fans from five states who turned out on Martin Road were treated to a special experience, on and off the track.
"This went very well, extremely well,'' said Linda Phelps, who has worked in the USATF since the early 1980s, and held almost every office imaginable, including that of national youth chairman. "The facility is very excellent, very kid friendly, very officials friendly and very meet management friendly. There's no way to describe how comfortable it is, and the meet management team was excellent.''
With Reinhardt and a host of experienced volunteers leading the way, the meet had few glitches and, despite a couple stoppages on Saturday because of rain, it ran like clockwork.
"I was so pleased how we came together to showcase Strider Field and show the rest of the region what we can do in Jamestown, New York,'' he said. "We went in with a plan. ... Everybody had a job to do, and they followed it.''
Reinhardt grabbed a meet program, found the page with the names of the organizing committee and wanted to thank each one. They included, Marty Stockwell, competition director; Chuck Boggs, computer operation director; Travis Prejean and Gabe Butler, assistant computer operations directors; Tom Priester, coordinator of USATF officials; Robert Rappole, track event, coordinator; Mike Zabrodsky, starting line coordinator; Liz Aldrich, field event coordinator and Striders coach; David Hedberg and Steve Sipior (Striders coach), facility and equipment coordinators; Ron Graham and Arrick Davis (Striders coach), support service coordinators; Mike Engdahl, awards coordinator; Cristin Hockenberry, program coordinator and Striders coach; Jim Manocchio, athletic trainer; and Shelia Lesniowski, group business development, Chautauqua County Visitors' Bureau.
Graham has coached or run meets like this for 30 years, so he's somewhat of an authority on why Jamestown did such a good job this time.
"Everybody does the same job ... every meet,'' he said. "All the same people are at the same spots. There are no learning curves.''
In particular, Reinhardt wanted to thank Boggs.
"He's quietly behind the scenes, but he makes the entire meet go,'' Reinhardt said. "I can't do anything without his assistance.''
To further make the weekend for Reinhardt and company, six Striders athletes qualified for the USATF Junior Olympic Championships later this month in Greensboro, N.C.
Danielle Anderson (Intermediate Girls high jump), Josh Peters (Young Men's hammer throw), Jeff Mason (Young Men's 800 meters), Travis Nagle (Young Men's decathlon), Taylor Bennett (Intermediate Boys 400 hurdles) and Savantuay Boyette (Young Men's 5,000 meters) will all make the trip south in a couple weeks. Anderson, Peters, Mason and Nagle won their respective events.
"I seriously didn't want it to end,'' Reinhardt said. "The stands were packed, kids were diving across the finish line and hitting hurdles and going down.''
In other words, the kids gave it their all.
So, too, did the organizing committee. In the end, that was the best birthday present the Striders could have received.
"The Niagara Association will have it again in probably four years,'' said Phelps, a Pittsburgh resident, "and I would recommend this facility to have it again in four years. ... I couldn't say better things about the area.''
