Branden Caldwell is a junior distance runner on the track team at San Lorenzo Valley High School. An aspiring Eagle Scout for Boy Scout Troop 633 in Santa Cruz, Caldwell decided to find a way to help the track team while fulfilling his Eagle Scout project.
In his search, Caldwell saw the problems the track team was having keeping the new pole vault pits at the high school track covered with tarps and Visqueen plastic sheeting.
The new pits, valued at between $22,000 and $25,000, were an expensive endeavor for the school and Caldwell wanted to build a way to protect them from the elements.
So Caldwell went to work building a pit cover for the high school built like a tank.
“This thing took months,” Caldwell said. “I have been working on it every day, and we have had countless hours of time donated to us by West Coast Cranes and the George H. Wilson Company. We have overcome a lot of hurdles to get this thing in. “
The new covers are sturdy and attractive, built with corrugated aluminum and 22-gauge sheet metal. The wheels look like airplane landing gear and do most of the work so that one person can remove or replace the covers without help.
“These new covers really are awesome,” SLV track coach Rob Collins said. “What an amazing thing.”
With the Eagle Scout project completed, Caldwell has two Merit Badges left before he earns the rank of Eagle Scout.
Caldwell’s father, Scott Caldwell, is the scout master for the troop and was a member of the same troop back in 1972.
There will be a christening ceremony for the new covers at the schools track meet on March 10 at the high school track, after Press-Banner press-time.
