<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4SCohl_0viBXWZ600" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4SCohl_0viBXWZ600" width="835" height="470" ><figcaption>Rendering of the future track and turf field. (Credit: Marist College and Gale Engineering</figcaption></figure>Marist College is ramping up construction on a new multi-million dollar track and turf field on the current site of the North Field. Marist athletic director Tim Murray recently confirmed on The Relay Throw podcast that construction will commence at the North Field site within the next week. The first phase will focus on subsurface work, such as plumbing and lighting conduit.A new turf field inside the track’s perimeter is expected to be ready next semester; this field will provide another playing surface on campus and is intended to alleviate the Tenney Stadium turf scheduling logjam that often negatively impacts club and intramural sports teams. Marist will also pour a temporary blacktop track, which will be used next semester for training (although runners will not be able to wear spikes). The final track surface will be poured next spring once humidity levels increase and will be ready for use by next fall.The new facility will have areas for field events, including long jump, triple jump, high jump, steeplechase and pole vault. Throwing events (javelin, shot put, hammer and discus) will be held in a new area being constructed on a field wedged in between McCann Arena and Route 9. Proponents of the project believe it will transform the College’s track and field program, which has traditionally focused on recruiting distance runners due to the absence of a track on campus.“[Marist President Kevin Weinman], one of the first times I met him, he said to me, ‘You guys have a pretty good program. How have you done it all these years without a track?’” said Marist director of men’s and women’s cross country/track &amp; field Pete Colaizzo. “I'm like, “We just make it work and he said, “Yeah, we’ve got to get you a track here,” and here it is three and a half years later.”Past recruiting efforts with sprinters, jumpers, throwers and other athletes who specialize in field events often put Colaizzo in an awkward spot, as he was forced to address the elephant in the room.“Over the years I've met with hundreds and hundreds of recruits and their parents, and inevitably if I don't get to it first, they ask. A lot of times they're coming off a tour and they're like, ‘Wow, it's a really beautiful campus. Where's the track? Or, how come you don't have a track?’” said Colaizzo. “It always paints me in a corner. l mean, how could l have answered that question?”Without a track on campus, the program has often loaded its athletes into vans to practice at the Vassar College track or the Vassar Farms course. This poses a daily inconvenience to the athletes, as Vassar is a 10-minute drive from campus. Colaizzo’s relationship with Vassar head coach James McCowan has allowed the program to continually use the track and course.“I’m forever indebted to [Vassar], I always have been. We could not do what we have done without their help,” said Colaizzo. “The idea that a year from now I won't have to go off campus to use Vassar’s track, I can't even fathom that because I've been doing it my whole life.”Now that both Colaizzo and head women’s cross country and track coach Chuck Williams can tout a more sustainable long-term practice venue in a picturesque setting, the program has initiated a shift in strategy. Colaizzo plans for Marist to use the new track as a catalyst to compete at a high level in all three seasons (cross country, indoor and outdoor track). To help the program transition to prioritizing speed and power events, they recently brought aboard a pair of new assistant coaches Billy Poole-Harris and Alicia Samuel.Williams noted that these shifting goals have manifested themselves in recruiting efforts even before the track’s completion; moving forward, he expects to recruit “much less” distance runners with more track athletes taking up slots.“Already, we see the impact of adding [new assistant coaches] and the number of sprinters and jumpers have increased this year in recruiting,” said Williams. “That's been more of a focus now, this current cycle, including more of those athletes to fill out some of the events that traditionally, we maybe weren't as strong in the MAAC.”Further down the road, Colaizzo and Williams hope to host prominent meets at their new venue. Colaizzo, who has never hosted a track meet before in his over three decades of leading the program, anticipates that it will be a gradual process to host meets. Marist will likely begin hosting on a smaller scale, with the likely possibility of hosting a small regional meet featuring local teams in Spring 2026.Eventually, both Colaizzo and Williams plan to host the MAAC Championships on Marist’s campus. Currently, Rider, Mount St. Mary’s and Merrimack have championship-worthy venues that the event rotates through; Marist will add to that list and become a part of the rotation.Aside from the prestige that the program stands to gain from hosting events, doing so will also allow Marist to host a senior day for their track and field seniors later in the spring season when they are competing. Currently, the only time Marist is in a home venue all season long is during the cross-country season opener, which they host at Vassar Farms in early September. This forces the program to host a senior day honoring track athletes before their season begins.The project will result in a short-term inconvenience for teams such as Marist Rugby, which will temporarily relocate from the North Field to the grass field in between McCann Arena and Route 9 during construction. To make way for the rugby team’s temporary home next to McCann, an outdoor basketball court located by the temporary field was recently removed and replaced with sod to expand the field’s dimensions.The process to initiate construction on the new track and turf field has been lengthy. While the project faced delays due to the Town of Poughkeepsie’s approval process, Murray is pleased with the progress. He credited Marist director of physical plant Justin Butwell, along with project architects and designers, for working with the Town to alleviate concerns to gain the necessary approvals. One concern from nearby residents was the College’s plan to erect 60-to-80-foot-tall light towers along the Hudson River to illuminate the track at night. Murray claimed that cutting-edge technology will lead to minimal light spillage from the towers, and cited Army’s riverside venues in West Point as a positive example of this. Another concern was the use of crumb rubber in the turf; Marist was required to mitigate the risks of crumb rubber migrating into the river to prevent pollution.Gaining approval from the town was just one part of the process. To help fund the project, Marist trustee Tim Tenney made a lead donation of up to $1 million; he will match every dollar Marist receives in gifts and pledges up to that amount to incentivize others to donate. During the College’s first-ever Day of Giving, put on by Marist Athletics back in March, the cross country/track and field program raised $47,188. At the end of May 2024, Marist reported that an additional 267 donors had pledged $421,483 to support the project.The College also launched the Brick Campaign, giving Marist donors a chance to purchase personalized bricks that will be placed on a walking path to the new track. Donors can get a small personalized brick engraved for $500 or a large personalized square paver for $1,000.Concurrently, Colaizzo and Williams have leveraged relationships formed from decades of coaching into a fundraising operation. Colaizzo’s decades of coaching means he has connections to almost every era of Marist track and field, and he has even forged connections to older track alumni from the 1960s and 1970s to help gather donations. With the project still short of its fundraising goals, efforts to connect with donors will remain ongoing while construction gets underway. In the end, those involved believe that their substantial investments will be more than worth it.“When it's done, I think it's going to be the best track venue in the conference just based on what we're doing as an institution,” said Williams. “When we do things here [at Marist’, we do them right. We don't cut corners. I think it's going to be the best complex in the entire conference.”</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Marist Begins Building Highly-Anticipated Track and Turf Field

Marist College is ramping up construction on a new multi-million dollar track and turf field on the current site of the North Field. Marist athletic director Tim Murray recently confirmed on The Relay Throw podcast that construction will commence at the North Field site within the next week. The first phase will focus on subsurface work, such as plumbing and lighting conduit.