28 August 2018
Derek Lee
The Fall Semester has just begun, and with it comes the unveiling of the new track and field facility: the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse.
Construction has been ongoing throughout the summer, and now, the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse will be ready to host its first event.
“There was a lot of work that took place over the summer including, most notably, the completion of the track surface,” said athletic director Nathan Gibson via email, “The process of pouring and striping the track took about six weeks, but turned out really awesome.”
The Mountain Lion Fieldhouse will primarily be used for track and field events, but Gibson says that they plan to have other events there as well.
“I am excited for our first practices and those initial opportunities for everyone to see the building. We will also host meets this winter and I am excited to see how the facility holds up for first competitions,” said Gibson.
“Now that we have our own place, I think we’ll be able to get a lot more accomplished in terms of bettering ourselves once conditioning is over,” said sprinter Pitmon Foxall IV via email.
Foxall, who is a junior in the sport management program, says that the biggest positive by far about having an indoor facility will be not having to worry about weather impacting practice anymore.
“With our old place, we were kind of limited on what we could do based on weather, so having a consistent practice area will open doors we’ve never had the chance to even look at,” said Foxall.
In an email, sprinter Morgan Barone agreed. “I think the biggest positive will be not having to move around and adjusting our practice plans. At times, it was so difficult to have a decent practice when it was changed so last minute. Another big positive will be hosting meets and having that home field advantage.”
A junior who is majoring in biomedical sciences and minoring in psychology, Barone thinks the team is most excited about being able to practice together as a team and being together as a unit.
“Last year, we were all over the place. Now, with one place to call home, we will be more in-tune with each other as a team by seeing other events working hard as well.”
Middle distance runner and hurdler, Jalen Jordan, is looking forward to the women’s team now being able to defend the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor Championship on home turf.
Jordan, who is majoring in political science and will be a junior this year, said via email that, “while they have always been a hard-nosed, hard-working team even without a facility of their own, the presence of Mountain Lion Fieldhouse will only help them step up their efforts a notch higher.”
“Having our own facility will really give the team a home; somewhere where all of the event groups can practice together,” said sprinter Skylyn Webb via email.
The grad student and clinical psychology major also said that she thinks this will strengthen their team, and make them a lot closer.
All of the athletes agreed that they would love to see fans, especially students, come out and support the team, with home meets scheduled for December 8, January 19 and February 9.
“I do anticipate that having our own track and field facility will increase student and community involvement, which will be awesome,” Webb said, “It’s great to have fans at a meet!”
Mountain Lion Fieldhouse opens on September 5 and will feature a ribbon cutting, as well as remarks from campus leadership. Following the ribbon cutting, track and field athletes will begin their first official practice of the school year.