Gordon Field House Receives A Makeover

SHORT OF A NATIONAL championship, there isn’t much that Ohio Wesleyan men’s and women’s track & field/cross country coach Kris Boey hasn’t accomplished during his seven spectacular seasons at the Bishop helm.

On January 23, one item was removed from that short list when Ohio Wesleyan hosted an indoor track & field meet for the first time since Boey took over in the summer of 2002. The meet was the first intercollegiate event to be held in Gordon Field House since its refurbishment late in 2008.

“There are a number of advantages to hosting a meet,” says Boey. “There is less potential for missed class time, and in today’s economic times, it’s wise to limit travel expenditures while still giving student-athletes a positive competitive experience. And, just as any other athlete loves a chance to compete at home, this will allow for students and faculty to come and support our student-athletes in their efforts.”

Capital University, Kenyon College, and Otterbein College — coincidentally, the same teams which visited Gordon Field House on February 1, 2002, for Ohio Wesleyan’s last indoor track & field meet — provided the competition.

“This is the smallest meet we’ll host this year, compared to the bigger cross country and track & field meets,” notes Boey, “but there are no other events which draw such a diverse group of people to our campus. Visiting teams bring families, siblings and friends who otherwise might not have come here and learned about Ohio Wesleyan.”

The Gordon Field House track was refinished with a state-of-the-art encapsulated surface in December 2008 as part of the Remembering Mr. Rickey campaign. While there are still five lanes for the short sprints along the south wall, the rest of the running events are run on the main track, which now is a four-lane circuit as opposed to the old five-lane layout, which required much tighter lanes in order to squeeze into the available space.

Whether it’s a four-team event, or just a dual meet, the adage that ‘there’s no place like home’ holds true.

“Every athlete has a certain sense of pride in their program and their institution,” Boey says. “Having the opportunity to compete at home allows a greater amount of pride in their program, their facilities and their school.”

“It’s the wonderful generosity of our alumni and parents that gives us this opportunity,” says athletics director Roger Ingles. “This is a tremendous thing, for our student-athletes to be competing at home for the first time in so many years and to have a facility they can be proud of.”