Construction begins on the Waverly High School stadium on April 12, 2021, in Waverly, Nebraska. Construction finished just in time for the Vikings 2021 football season. (Elsie Stormberg/The Waverly News)
Article and photos by Elsie Stormberg/The Waverly News
Published April 14, 2021
WAVERLY – After the Waverly Track and Field Invitational on April 9, 2021, Head Coach Brian Benson tore off a chunk of 21-year-old track and handed it to a few of his seniors encouraging them to take it home. This seems like an unorthodox gesture for a track and field coach to do, but this invitational, in which the girls track and field team were champions and the boys track team came in runner up, was the very last event to ever happen on the old track.
“It was a little surreal,” Benson said.
The Waverly Track and Field team competes in the last-ever meet to be held on the former track on April 9, 2021, in Waverly, Nebraska. The new track and field was completed in time for the first Waverly Football game on September 10, 2021. (Elsie Stormberg/The Waverly News)
Not only because it was the very last event, but also because Benson started with the high school in 1998, the first year the new Waverly High School was in operation after previously being located at what is now Waverly Intermediate School. Benson actually witnessed the track and field being put in.
In September of 1996, the District 145 Board of Education passed a bond issue for the construction of the new high school facility and purchase of the 80-acre site in the amount of $10,640,000, District 145 Business Manager Robin Hoffman said.
Now, Benson will observe a brand new track and turf field being installed 20-plus years later. On Monday, Nemaha Sports Construction began work on the stadium to replace the grass field and track.
Nemaha, out of Lincoln, will be working on adding a new track with a turf field to the Viking Stadium from now until August 9, 2021, to be completed before the first home football game of the season this coming fall.
Because the track’s “broken-back” design is a little more rounded and not as elongated, it will better allow for soccer games and it can be utilized for more than just football and track.
The former track and field of Waverly High School, pictured on the left, was transformed over the summer of 2021 to the current field, pictured on the right. (Elsie Stormberg/The Waverly News)
“It will be beneficial to a lot of people,” District 145 Superintendent Cory Worrell said during a recent school board meeting. “Not only just track and football, but to soccer, to band, to physical education, to our community.”
During the March 1 District 145 School Board of Education meeting, the board approved a bid from Nemaha for $2,354,580 which was a little over the budget they established during the November meeting.
The school board initially approved a plan designed by DLR group with a budget of $2,111,460 that included the new track and field shape and relocation of existing lighting.
Benson said over the last 21 years, he’s seen the ups and downs Waverly experienced on the field and on the track, being an assistant track coach, as well as a football coach throughout his tenure.
“It’s time,” Benson said. “It needs to be replaced.”
Waverly’s Tyztin Hoos catches a throw from teammate Cole Murray for the first touchdown of the game against Norris on October 23, 2020, in Waverly, Nebraska. (Elsie Stormberg/The Waverly News)
Waverly’s Hunter Hanke reacts to a ball recovery during a game against Norris on October 23, 2020, in Waverly, Nebraska. (Elsie Stormberg/The Waverly News)
The Waverly Vikings play Norris in one of the last football games to be played on the old field at Waverly High School on October 23, 2020, in Waverly, Nebraska.
Just a few years after Benson joined the district, former head football coach Mike Johnson began coaching at WHS in 2000, the second season the Vikings were able to play home games at the new high school site.
Some of Johnson’s favorite memories occurred on the grass field, including the Night of Champions in 2019, where his time as a Waverly coach was honored. At that time, the Vikings’ coach was Reed Manstedt, who had been Johnson’s assistant in 2012. And they were playing Lexington, Johnson’s alma mater.
Manstedt said he has had a unique experience with the field having played on the field as an athlete at Wahoo Public High School, as an assistant coach for Waverly, as an opposing coach for Crete High School and most recently as the head coach for Waverly.
“I’ve been mad at this field when I’ve played on it before and I’ve been happy about it at times,” Manstedt said.
A grass field brings certain challenges to any offense who plays against Waverly, which brings somewhat of a home field advantage.
While Manstedt and Johnson have always loved the grass field, Johnson, who has been the football coach at Nebraska Wesleyan for about six years now, recognizes that most Class B teams in the state probably have turf.
“It’s our turn,” Johnson said.
The one and only time Waverly has won a football championship was in 1980 under the helm of former Head Coach John Lawler. The Waverly News asked Manstedt if the turf field could help them toward a state championship to which he responded with focusing on opening night on the new field.
The first home game Waverly will play, the third game of the season, will be against Elkhorn. Manstedt said this is hurdle No. 1 because not only is Elkhorn the defending state championships, they are also the team Waverly lost to in quarterfinals of the state playoffs.
The Waverly Football team enter Vikings Stadium for the first game on the new field against Elkhorn on September 10, 2021, in Waverly, Nebraska. (Elsie Stormberg/The Waverly News)
The Waverly Football team plays the first game in the updated Vikings Stadium against Elkhorn on September 10, 2021, in Waverly, Nebraska. (Elsie Stormberg/The Waverly News)
The Waverly Football team plays the first game in the updated Vikings Stadium against Elkhorn on September 10, 2021, in Waverly, Nebraska. (Elsie Stormberg/The Waverly News)
“Step one is going to take care of business opening night,” Manstedt said.
Aside from football and track, the new turf field and track can be something not only the district can benefit from, but also the entire community. Manstedt is grateful.
“I mean it’s such a great thing,” he said. “I really believe that in the next five to 10 years when this whole project is done, it has the potential to be the most beautiful facility.”
This article can also be found on the The Waverly News website here.