Facilities to Help Boost NU Track and Field

Success in track and field does not happen by accident. It takes a team effort to achieve success.

The Nebraska Track and Field program has achieved a wealth of success during the 25-year tenure of Head Coach Gary Pepin. The men’s and women’s teams have achieved it 63 times, to be exact. That’s how many conference championships the Huskers have combined to win under Pepin.

That number will surely grow, too. Nebraska is in the process of expanding its facilities to provide its student-athletes with one of the finest athletic complexes in the country.

With the completion of the Indoor Championship Center, the Championship Wing and the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex, the Huskers will further solidify their position as one of the most successful track and field programs in the Big 12, as well as the nation.

Why build new facilities?
When Athletic Director Steve Pederson began the $50 million Memorial Stadium Expansion Project, he did not just want to simply provide facilities. He wanted to create championship facilities for championship teams.

Pederson and Associate Athletic Director Boyd Epley want to create championship opportunities. When student-athletes come to Nebraska, it is apparent they have the support and means necessary for a winning college career.

"Our facilities are designed to allow us to practice smarter, longer and better," Epley said. "The facility needs to help us improve, educate, and recruit with the purpose of winning in mind. If we didn’t do that, we would miss the mark."

The new facilities will serve as a key factor in the performance of Nebraska athletics. The first part of continuing to enhance Husker athletics lies in recruiting.

This building project will help Nebraska to continue its great tradition of attracting the best athletes in the country, as well as the world.

"One thing that strikes me immediately is the aesthetics of the buildings," Head Coach Gary Pepin said. "I think it’s going to be very helpful in recruiting. I think it’s really great for the athletic department, and it’s great for our track program."

Not only will the new facilities continue to attract top-notch talent, but they will allow Nebraska athletes to maximize their abilities and talents to become the best they can be.

The Indoor Championship Center is a massive 81,200 square-foot structure that includes a full-size football/soccer field. During home track meets, the Indoor Championship Center can be used as a warm-up area.

In the Indoor Championship Center, there will be two four-foot wide running lanes that span the length of the building. These sprint tracks are concrete and will be covered with a form of FieldTurf called Hockey Turf. This Hockey Turf is a fast, firm surface with a short nap, so it will perform similar to the surface of the Ed Weir Track. With these sprint tracks, athletes can warm up during home meets indoors.

The track and field team also will be able to hold team meetings in the Indoor Championship Center. The Center will have bleachers to seat 440 people.

The Championship Wing will be 42,000 square feet and will have men’s and women’s locker room facilities to be utilized by all Husker student-athletes.

As athletes will be working out at different times throughout the day, they may encounter a time when they need a place to shower and/or change clothes to go to a class or other commitment.

This locker room allows athletes to work out and change in the same building, which will save athletes the time of having to go to another location to accomplish those tasks.

The Quest for a Championship
For proof of the level of commitment that Nebraska is taking with their student-athletes, one needs to look no further than the Charles and Romona Myers Performance Center.

The University of Nebraska is committed to creating championship opportunities for their student-athletes, and the Myers Center is yet another example of that. As part of the Osborne Athletic Complex, the Myers Center will include 63,500 square feet devoted to the excellence of student-athletes.

As Pederson said when the facilities plans were unveiled, "Athletes are made when no one is watching." The Myers Center will allow Nebraska athletes to prepare like champions so they can become champions.

The Myers Center will house three important aspects of performance, including the strength complex, athletic medicine facility and nutrition centers.

"Strengths" of the Osborne Complex
Nebraska developed the original strength and conditioning program called Husker Power, and the new strength complex located in the Myers Performance Center for Student-Athletes will give the program a sparkling new home.

Husker Power has played a big role in Nebraska’s historic success in all sports, and the new strength complex will enhance the performance of student-athletes as they strive to win championships.

Since Nebraska’s nationally-renown strength program has played a key role in the Huskers’ 63 conference team track and field titles, it was essential to make improvements to the strength complex so sports like track and field could add to that championship total.

With the strength complex, Nebraska will get a new facility for its already state-of-the-art equipment. The new strength complex will include equipment such as transformers, which are special squat racks developed by Epley currently in use in the present strength complex.

Transformers are mechanical squat racks that control the height of the bar rack, as well as the height of the safety spot that will catch the load should an athlete not be able to complete the lift. Nebraska is the only place in the world that these incredible transformers can be found.

Another benefit the new strength complex brings to track and field is convenience.

The new Osborne Complex is located just to the west of the outdoor Ed Weir Track, so the Huskers can stay in one place to perform their team practices, as well as their workouts in the weight room.

"The best aspect of this facility is that the track will be right next to the weight room," Track and Field Strength Coach Mike Arthur said. "It’s going to be convenient for them to do their workouts as they’ll be able to come in right off the track, or vice versa."

"During the time that we’re at the outdoor track, that’s certainly going to be a very nice amenity for a lot of reasons," Pepin said. "I think it’s going to be a plus."

Health and Nutrition
Another luxurious new feature of the Osborne Complex is the state-of-the-art athletic medicine facility that is being built.

According to Head Athletic Trainer Jerry Weber, the services that athletic training provides are as important as any other an athlete receives at Nebraska.

"You only have a finite amount of time to play on the college level," Weber said. "You only have five years to complete four seasons of eligibility, and you can’t afford to sit out for a couple of years to rehabilitate. The quality of health care you receive is very important."

The athletic medicine area will more than triple in size from its current location. The crown jewel of the new athletic training facility is the beautiful water rehabilitation area.

"The water rehab area is going to be second-to-none in the country," Weber said.

The reason for such an extensive water rehabilitation area is because it is a more effective method of treatment, which will put Husker athletes back in competition quicker.

"The sooner you get student-athletes back doing functional activities that are closely related to what they’re going to be doing as an athlete, the better you are," Weber said.

Along with separate hot and cold therapy pools, the athletic medicine area will feature a 60-by-12 foot lap pool that has three four-foot-wide lanes. Each lane will be at a different depth to accommodate a gymnast who is five-feet tall while simultaneously rehabilitating a seven-foot tall basketball player.

Another separate pool will be equipped with an integrated treadmill and resistance jets to provide the athletic medicine staff with a full array of rehab options.

Weber said that the new athletic medicine area will be arranged like a medical clinic. There will be separate rehabilitation and taping areas, a pharmacy, doctors’ offices, and X-ray and emergency room suites.

A vital item included in the new athletic medicine facility is the massage therapist’s office. Nebraska has a massage therapist on staff to assist teams such as track and field, which require a type of treatment to assist with care and prevention of things like muscle pulls.

"It’s just going to make it more efficient," Weber said. "It is going to be the top facility in the country."

Another vital aspect of an athlete’s performance is nutrition. Nebraska is one of only a handful of universities in the country to have a full-time nutritionist on staff.

The new facility will provide James Harris, Nebraska’s coordinator of sports nutrition, with new amenities that he can pass on to student-athletes.

Three hydration stations and two supplement distribution locations will be installed throughout the Myers Performance Center so that regardless of the athletes’ workout location, they will have immediate access to the provisions they need.

"When you work out, you tear your body down," Harris said. "You push yourself harder and harder to tear your body down, and then nutrition helps you recover."

As well as being able to nourish athletes more efficiently, Harris’ central location in the Myers Performance Center will allow him to serve their individual nutritional needs more effectively.

"With the new facility I will be able to estimate calories," Harris said. "I can go to a practice, monitor an athlete’s activity, and determine how many calories they’re burning so I can better advise them as to what kind of calories they should be taking in."

There is no place like Nebraska
Nebraska’s new facilities will help form one of the finest athletic complexes in the country, and will play a large role in the continuing excellence of the Husker track and field program.

The new facilities reflect the kind of commitment the Nebraska athletic department has, not only to the track and field program, but to all 23 varsity sports it sponsors.

The Osborne Complex and the Indoor Championship Center address the multiple needs of track and field athletes, and is another example why "There is No Place Like Nebraska" to compete in track and field.