In the spring of 1972, the Sports Complex opened with the completion of a six-lane, 440-yard track. Over the next 50 years, the facility has grown to include lights, bleachers, and a press box, along with baseball and softball diamonds and practice fields. The Belleville Wildcats football and Sugar River Raiders soccer programs call this home and the track is now an eight-lane 400 meter track.

The boys had been participating in track and field since 1928, but 1972 is the year that sports were opened up to high school girls as well. To celebrate this, we are hosting a Wildcats-Raiders Track & Field Alumni gathering the evening of the 25th Raider Invitational on Friday, May 13th, at the Sports Complex.

There will be a ceremony to honor a program that has won two State Championships (1996 and 2012 in Boys Division II) and two State Runner-ups (1989 Boys Class C and 2006 Girls Division II), and more than 50 combined conference championships, dozens of state qualifiers, and many individual state champions.

The ceremony will happen between the preliminaries and the finals of the 25th Raider Invitational. Interested persons and former Wildcats and Raiders track and field alumni from both Belleville and New Glarus will gather after 4:00 p.m., at the Sports Complex with the ceremony to happen at around 5:00 p.m. There will be a Wildcats/Raiders alumni group photograph taken at the conclusion of the ceremony and then all the alumni are invited to stay at the meet to cheer on the 2022 Raiders or head to the open seating area between J&M's and Borland's on Belleville's Main Street for a time of fellowship and reminiscing. Local band 'Homegrown' will be performing from 8:00 p.m. until 12:00 a.m.

A historical program covering the history of the combined programs published by the Belleville Area Historical Society will be available for a donation and all proceeds from the evening will go towards supporting the Sugar River track and field program.

To learn more about the event, go to Facebook and search for "Belleville Wildcat – Sugar River Raider Track Alumni'. We look forward to seeing you there on May 13th!