Long time highly successful Bainbridge High School track coach Larry Clark and two of his former athletes, Bearcats head track coach Larry Cosby and Lady Cats head track coach Tandria Phillips, got a first hand look Thursday at a couple of the new features at their state of the art track on the new Bainbridge High School campus.

They first observed the pole vault pit, a facility they did not have at their track on the old Bainbridge High School campus.

“We lost points at every meet we went to in the past because we could not participate in the pole vault,” Clark said. “We didn’t have a place to practice it on our home track. Fortunately, we were strong in so many other events that the lost points didn’t hurt us that much.”

The other first time feature to their home track was a wire back stop to prevent discus throws from going out of bounds and injuring another athlete or a fan.

“You are never quite sure how far a discus throw is going to travel or where it is going to end up,” Clark said. “The new back stop is an outstanding addition to the new track. The rubberized running service is state of the art as well.”

The biggest event at the new track will come March 14, 2009 when coach Cosby’s Bearcats and coach Phillips’ Lady Cats host the first Dr. Larry Clark Invitational Meet in honor of Clark’s great contributions to the Bainbridge High School track programs.

“Dr.Cark has not only been a great track coach and great mentor to me and coach Phillips,” Cosby said. “He has also been a great role model for young people, both athletes and non athletes, in Decatur County for many years.”

With the new facility, the Bearcats and Lady Cats will also be able to host Region 1AAAA championship meets in the future. They can also have more regular season home meets.