MACON, Ga. - A pair of Atlantic Sun institutions, UNF and USC Upstate will soon feature new track facilities, furthering the development of one the conference's top growing sports.
UNF's state-of-the-art track and field facility at the Hodges Stadium will instantly become one of the elite tracks worldwide. The Mondo Corporation track surface applied at Hodges can currently only be found at Arizona State University and the Olympic Track in Beijing.
By virtue of the new track, UNF will the host of the 2009 and 2010 Atlantic Sun Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the first championship the Ospreys will host since joining the A-Sun in 2005.
Along with a lighted field and the nine-lane international track, the facility houses classrooms, the Browning Athletic Training and Education Center and serves as the primary home for many members of the UNF Athletics Department. The stadium's field currently serves as a practice facility for one of the Gator Bowl participants and in 2005, the Philadelphia Eagles used the facility as a practice field, in preparation for Super Bowl XXXIX.
On Friday, USC Upstate announced plans for the construction of the Dan Adams Track & Field Complex, scheduled to be under construction within the next year. The complex will offer opportunities to host prominent competitions that will directly benefit the Spartanburg, S.C. community in economic terms and positively affect the youth in the area with setting and achieving their track and field goals.
The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.