Columbiana School District enters Phase II of athletic facilities project

Redesign of the cross country course included in next step

COLUMBIANA -- The Columbiana School District has entered Phase II of its Athletic Facilities Plan and that includes the redesign of the Cross Country course.

District Superintendent Dr. Don Mook said the course redesign is due to the changes that are happening at the Ward athletic complex.

"The new design is similar, but has some subtle changes based on where new ballfields will be going in," Mook said.

Cross Country Coach Crystal Siembida-Boggs and her husband Josh Boggs are assisting the district with the new course design, he added.

Siembida-Boggs, who first started coaching track for the district in 2014, said her husband actually helped design the original course years ago.

"The moment we were given permission to utilize the new property that was purchased by the school I fell in love with it upon first look," Siembida-Boggs said. "My favorite cross country courses feature places where we can run under trees and that section of the property where we placed the starting line and where we feature the rows of trees is beautiful in my opinion. Gentle rolling hills that still have a downhill start."

Siembida-Boggs began first volunteer coaching cross country sometime after 2014 and then when a head coaching position opened up she was able to step into that position.

"The athletes on the team are so excited to be able to finish on the track in front of the home bleachers when the infield gets finished this fall. It will be about 200 meters of a super flat and fast finish," she said.

Her husband Josh Boggs said the course is one of few locations in the area that is a true cross country course.

"We aren't just sharing a park or other fields, this is a course designed for cross country itself. It's unique to the area. Athletes get a true sense of cross country by having this facility to race at," he said.

Located on the property behind the high school complex, the new course will also retain as much of the old course as possible to keep that legacy alive as well, the couple said.

Before they were on the ground measuring with wheels and GPS they were sitting at a desk, with Josh Boggs working maps on a computer for hours trying to make the loops work.

"You can't just draw a circle and make it happen. You have to follow OHSAA regulations for turns, for markings, the starting area. And because we host USA Track and Field meets we made sure that we could be compliant with college level needs too with the width of the course," Crystal Siembida-Boggs explained.

Once all the construction phases are done the plan is to get the course USATF certified again, she added.

As for Phase III of the Athletic Facilities Plan, the district aims to break ground in the spring of 2028 on a new multi-use Indoor Training Facility.

The state-of-the-art facility will house a weight room, speed and agility tracks, locker rooms, golf simulators, and an indoor turf playing surface designed to foster long-term program growth and serve the wider community, the district said.

"Financing this extensive plan relies on a highly responsible, balanced funding strategy utilizing state-term pricing, public-private partnerships, naming rights, and targeted state and federal grants," the district said in a press release announcing the project.