Standing along multicolored pennant flags ringed around 400 meters of pristine track, Groton’s track and field team watched and cheered as their captains cut the ribbon, anointed with the school’s colors, on the Vuyelwa and Temba Maqubela Track and Field Complex, formally opening it to use.
Advocacy for the new track began with Vuyelwa Maqubela’s efforts at board meetings. “Given the resources at the school’s disposal,” Mrs. Maquebela declared, “It simply made no sense to me that we didn’t have a track, because we had a track team.” To her, the construction of a new track is the next step in furthering Groton’s goal of equity. “Unlike with other sports, anyone can do track. You don’t have to have played before high school for two or three years.” Rather than serving the sole purpose of a superior training facility, the track aims to extend access for quality athletics to all students.
After surmounting the challenge of unanimous board agreement, the fundraising process for construction led rather quickly. Although it had a multimillion dollar price tag, a large inaugural donation to the school helped set the funding in motion. Consequently, the school was able to break ground on the new facility in spring 2023, completing it by the end of fall term.
Board of Trustees Head Ben Pyne ’77 was the keynote speaker for the ceremony, outlining the magnitude of the new track in supporting and facilitating Groton’s runners. Many expressed the importance of the track in furthering equity in the school’s athletics. The decision to build the track, as Mr. Maqubela emphasized in his speech that followed, was rooted in the need for track athletes to have access to the facilities they need to practice and improve. Following the speeches, the captains cut the ribbon, opening the track to its debut and commencing an inaugural lap around the track.
To many, the opening of the new track was an emotional occasion. Captains and athletes alike recall a feeling of pride in this new vision of track and field at Groton. “Honestly, having practiced without a track for so long, it felt surreal,” said Captain Daisy Adinkrah ’24. “It really reminded me of how much the team has grown.” The track and field team, once an FSA with under twenty members, has since ballooned to a team of eighty athletes. However, the track does more than house the growing team; it provides a place of community for the team to connect. Third Former Eric Zhu ’27 noted, “As a new athlete on the track and field team, I felt like the track garnered a sense of community for us. The fact that we all started and ended practice on the track gave a sense of unity to what is otherwise a very individual-focused sport.”
The new track itself is an exceptional facility—praised as the best track in the ISL by both Groton and visiting athletes—and a significant upgrade from practicing in the field or on neighboring schools’ tracks. The new high jump and pole vault facilities have allowed athletes to explore field events they previously could not practice for, even propelling new pole vaulter Colby Gund ’24 to a New England’s victory.
Positioned between the forest and the Circle, the track stands ready to train and nurture generations of Groton running athletes, a great leap from the humble beginnings of track as a faculty sponsored activity. A testament to the growth of track and field at Groton, it represents the school’s efforts to advance its mission of equity and inclusion.
