Scott Urbantke

So, too, is Scott Urbantke, UA's director of athletics grounds, and his crew, who began getting ready for this weekend about a month ago.

The school is hosting a track meet, three games each in baseball and softball, an all-day rowing regatta on the Black Warrior River and a football scrimmage that is closed to the public.

'Baseball and softball are mostly an ongoing thing once we get started in February,' Urbantke said, 'but track we ramped up about a month ago.'

Getting ready

The crew had to prep for the Alabama Relays four-day track meet, which began Thursday, by killing fire ant beds, filling holes in the track's infield, giving the Sam Bailey Track and Field Complex a fresh coat of paint, chalking the areas for field events and filling the long jump pit with sand.

'We got all that tidied up by [last] Saturday,' Urbantke said.

Even though today's UA football scrimmage isn't public, the grounds crew had to prepare the field as it would for a game.The turf at Bryant-Denny Stadium was lined by Thursday morning.

Urbantke's crew will be working 10-hour days all weekend to keep up.

'It's not unusual to have baseball and softball the same weekend,' he said. 'When you put the track meet on top of it, it stretches everybody out.

Scott Urbantke, Director of Athletics Grounds

348-9680

Scott Urbantke, Director of Athletics Grounds 348-9680