Read this blog’s related story.

Exuberant faces filled the stands and cheers rang out at the Run for the Dream meet Monday at the Save Mart Center. The chaotic shouts of family and friends erupted as names were announced and as incredible feats were performed.

It was nice to see so much encouragement coming from the audience.

I had never been to any track and field event prior to this meet. At first, it was a little hard to tell what was going on as the matches unfolded because some of the events were being conducted simultaneously.

From time to time, I found myself thumbing awkwardly through my program to identify which athlete the announcer was referring to, and which event was being called for that matter. Eventually, I was not as concerned with who won as I was with witnessing the unique talents of each athlete.

I was also very impressed with the facility as well. I had never seen a track in which the outer edges were raised, but it does make some sense when you think about it. After all, we see the same thing in NASCAR. It gives the car, or runner, that extra edge they may lose when slowing down on the corners.

I learned that the entire ensemble was laid in less than 12 hours. That may seem like a long time, but considering all that had to be done, my hat’s off to the crew. They could be seen consistently during the meet arranging various sections of track and bales of hay as successive events were set to begin.

I believe that more meets could be scheduled here in the near future without too much time taken in the preparation. I also believe that attendance will grow as people become more familiar with track and field at Fresno State thanks to the new venue