Valpo Begins Construction on New Track and Field Facility

[historyman]

Too much rain lately, I guess. No lines yet. Do you think they decided to order gold lines?

[momofalex]

Newbie to the forum here - my son is a freshman pole vaulter at Valpo and we are excited about the new facility.  Honestly it was part of what put Valpo #1 on his list.  To see a university committing monies to their Track and Field program is encouraging, and sadly not true everywhere. 

[VULB#62]

Newbie to the forum here - my son is a freshman pole vaulter at Valpo and we are excited about the new facility.  Honestly it was part of what put Valpo #1 on his list.  To see a university committing monies to their Track and Field program is encouraging, and sadly not true everywhere. 

"If you build it, they will come"

[valpotx]

Sports like T&F, CC, tennis, golf and S&D can be successful at Valpo, as these sports generally carry strong academic performers.  Valpo can easily get stronger recruits if we have the facilities in place, since we have that strong academic reputation.

[wh]

Newbie to the forum here - my son is a freshman pole vaulter at Valpo and we are excited about the new facility.  Honestly it was part of what put Valpo #1 on his list.  To see a university committing monies to their Track and Field program is encouraging, and sadly not true everywhere. 

Welcome to the board.  My son was a vaulter in high school and college (not VU, but he is a VU Law School grad). I live locally and have been checking in from time to time during the building process. I'm excited to see what it will look like when they get the striping done. It should be a great place to practice and host outdoor meets.  Good luck to your son.  I hope he does well and, most importantly, enjoys his experience at Valpo! 

[momofalex]

Thanks for the warm welcome.  If you come to any of the track meets, our son is the blond vaulter

[valpopal]

[tweet]512279234903937024[/tweet]

[VULB#62]

Yay!



Here's a panorama shot

https://www.facebook.com/valpoathletics/photos/a.167497749972617.58630.113914928664233/733724786683241/?type=1&theater

BTW for those of you who have not walked the new track, an added new feature is a man-made swamp. Yes, fairly large drainage ponds were built on the land immediately to the east of the scoreboard end curve.  They are already filled with swamp grass and reeds.  Great place to take biology classes to gather specimens.  Originally, I thought that area would be where the weight throwers would ply their craft, but I was informed that would not be the case.  All throwing events will happen at East Gate and the circles and javelin runway, I'm told, are being rebuilt for that purpose.  So any home meet will require some bussing of the big guys with muscles.

[bbtds]

[tweet]512279234903937024[/tweet]

I have told my buddies at the NCAA that the white lines were done on the Valpo track.

Here was their reaction:

[VULB#62]

Whoo Hoo!  Glad to see you are on top of this important event!

That's the thing about Valpo people.  They take their duties seriously.   

[okinawatyphoon]

It looks great! I'm so glad that the administration decided to take the leap on this much-needed project. 

[valpopal]

A closer look at the lane painting on the new track:

[VULB#62]

A closer look at the lane painting on the new track:

Now, THAT looks great!  Probably all complete based on your photo Pal.  Was the turf fully installed between the field and the track?  It wasn't at the St. Joe's game.

[valpopal]

A closer look at the lane painting on the new track:

Now, THAT looks great!  Probably all complete based on your photo Pal.  Was the turf fully installed between the field and the track?  It wasn't at the St. Joe's game.

Yes, the turf has been filled between the field and the track. You can see the new turf alongside the track in the photo.

[VULB#62]

It was laid down for the game, but not fully installed (needed some cutting and anchoring at the time.  Thanks!

[bbtds]

So they can put blue dashes but not gold lines. Anybody else think that is rather interesting?




I didn't think so either.

[bbtds]

It was laid down for the game, but not fully installed (needed some cutting and anchoring at the time.  Thanks!

As were some other things, it looked a "little off" for the St Joe game.














The toup looks great now, '62!!!!

[VULB#62]

I, for one, BBTDS, think it is now appropriate for you to file your lines report with the the NCAA.   

[bbtds]

I, for one, BBTDS, think it is now appropriate for you to file your lines report with the the NCAA.   

I found out one thing. There is very little deviation between NCAA tracks.

                  

AND

that starter officials have guns





DON'T MESS WITH THE OFFICIALS!!

[FWalum]

 Was at  Concordia University Chicago this past weekend for Family weekend and was very surprised at their football and track facilities.  The field turf and track can only be a couple of years old and really look great as this picture shows.

[a3uge]

Was at  Concordia University Chicago this past weekend for Family weekend and was very surprised at their football and track facilities.  The field turf and track can only be a couple of years old and really look great as this picture shows.

My high school had a football mini-camp there in 2005 and the field was a couple years old back then (unless they completely replaced it since then).

[bbtds]

http://www.cucougars.com/sports/2013/11/21/FB_1121131757.aspx?id=62


Concordia Stadium was built in 2000 to accommodate the addition of Cougar women's and men's soccer teams, along with the Cougar football program. Field Turf was installed to replace the old natural grass surface, and new bleachers and a press box were constructed.

The facility was officially dedicated on Sept. 1, 2001


EDIT: I looked up the company that installed the Field Turf and their website shows dates of installation:

http://www.rycolandscaping.com/wp-content/resources/fieldturf-illinois-installations.pdf

Gage Park (CPD) (September '11)
Chicago, IL

Salvation Army-Ray Kroc Community Center (September '11)
Chicago, IL (Baseball field)

Aurora West High School (August '11)
Aurora, IL
Andy Lutzenkirchen (630) 301-5581

Concordia University (August '11)
River Forest, IL
Denny Witte (708) 209-3205


So FWalum is correct. The Field Turf was installed in August 2011 while the stadium was built in 2000 and dedicated in 2001.

[momofalex]

We were on campus this past weekend to visit our son and also visited the track.  The lines, etc. look great.  Our only concern is whether there is room between the pole vault box and the 1st lane for the pit.  Our son said the team has a standing argument between the sprinters and the vaulters as to what to do about it (give up lane 1 vs no vaulting)...  seems like a basic booboo - our guess was that the pv boxes (one for each direction) will have to be moved "in" so as to make enough room for the new pits to fit, and still leave room for lane 1.  A tape measure and some simple math is all that's needed.

[valporun]

momofalex, in most cases, sprinters never use lane 1, the 4x400 relay being the exception. They'll most likely move the pole vault in a little, if they can. The trouble of not doing the whole project at one time, so that changes are made accordingly.

[valpopal]

An overhead view of the finished track. The track team will host its first event in the spring.