MORGANTOWN — A check for $48,245 was presented to the Mylan Park Foundation by Friends of Track and Field during Wednesday’s Monongalia County Commission meeting.
As previously reported, the money will be added to $600,000 — which came by way of matching $300,000 contributions from the county commission and WVU Athletics — to purchase lights for Mylan Park’s new track and field complex.
Friends of Track and Field is a fund through Your Community Foundation It was founded by Mike Mosser, Carl Hatfield and former WVU track and cross-country coach Martin Pushkin.
Mosser and Hatfield were both standout runners for WVU in the late 1960s and early 1970s, prior to the elimination of track and cross country as a varsity sport for men.
Mosser became the first and only national champion for WVU men’s track and field in 1972, when he won the NCAA 1,000-meter indoor title.
“The lighting is crucial for hosting future middle school, high school and Big 12 championship meets, and for providing the running community access to training and competing at a wonderful new track,” Mosser said. “The track is state of the art and will serve as a first-class venue for the State of West Virginia.”
Mylan Park Foundation President Ron Justice accepted the donation.
“On behalf of the Mylan Park Foundation, we are very grateful for this gift. It is truly an honor to be in the presence of the Friends of Track and Field and the legends we have here today,” Justice said, adding that as part of the gift, a “signature community event” will be held at the facility each year, likely in April.
In other county news, the commission extended its existing EMS contract to March 1 in order to provide more time for the merger of WVU Hospitals Health-Team Critical Care Transport and Mon EMS.
Mon Health System President and CEO David Goldberg and Albert Wright, president and CEO of WVU Health System, announced the partnership last month.
After the two entities are combined, Mon EMS will be jointly managed and operated by Mon Health System and WVU Hospitals. The new entity will be branded under the name Mon EMS.
“This is an extension of the current contract to be able to allow us, through March, to bring our merger together and solidify our contractual structures,” Goldberg explained.
Goldberg reaffirmed the goal of having the agencies merged by the end of spring.
Lastly, the commission adopted a resolution in support of legislation allowing the creation of the Mountaineer Trail Network for mountain biking.
The enabling legislation will be presented during the upcoming legislative session. The issue passed both houses during the previous legislative session but was not reconciled in time after amendments were added.
