Your Vote Could Help Wharton Get a New Track

Wharton High School wants you to get out the vote — the Pepsi vote, that is.

During a press conference Tuesday at the school's track, administrators, students, athletes and parents urged the community to vote for them in the Pepsi Refresh grant program in which Wharton is a finalist. Obtaining $50,000 from the soda giant would help the school replace its outdated and unsafe asphalt track with a new, eight-lane synthetic one.

"We need your support," Wharton Principal Bradley Woods said, adding a new running surface would allow the school "to maintain that level of elitism that our track program has had under the tutelage of Coach Wes Newton the last 15 years."

Wharton's Track and Field program has had combined results of 17 district and regional championships, and two state runner-up finishes while Coach Wes Newton was named the 2011 Coach of the Year by the Tampa Tribune. Yet Wharton's track, which has never been resurfaced in the school's 15 years of existence, has problems with uneven lanes and has led to a "tremendous amount of stress fracturing," Newton said.

With an asphalt track, the school is not permitted to hold meets at the district level, or higher, and since athletes can't train on the hard surface everyday, youngsters have to augment by running in the grass, too. 

"It would make it much easier to practice with," junior Taylor Griffith, 16, said of a synthetic, rubberized track.

Wharton was ranked 25th as of this morning on the www.refresheverything.com voting site. They need to be in the top 10 by Dec. 31 to receive the grant money.

The effort to raise funds is being dubbed "Project S.O.S.," or "Save Our Shins." 

To vote for Wharton, go to www.refresheverything.com and sign up for an account. Once you have an account established, enter "Wharton" into the search engine and the description will appear on the screen. Click on "Vote for this idea."

To vote by phone, go to the mobile site, m.refresheverything.com, and then register yourself. Or text Pepsi (73774) and in the message line type 110786 for Wharton. 

For more information, visit www.whartontrack.us on the Web.