IWU To Host NAIA National Track and Field Meet

Indiana Wesleyan University has submitted the winning bid to host the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the next three years – 2010 through 2012 – with an option to extend the sponsorship for a fourth year.

The event is expected to attract about 1,300 men and women athletes, 500 coaches and support personnel and 3,000 spectators to IWU's main campus in Marion.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has nearly 300 member schools in the United States and Canada.

"The NAIA Nationals will be the biggest event ever hosted on IWU's campus," said IWU Athletic Director Mark DeMichael. Marion will be one of the smallest communities to ever host the event, he said.

The NAIA National Track and Field Meets have been held in Edwardsville, Illinois, a St. Louis suburb, the last two years. Previously, the meets were in Fresno, California.

The 59th annual men’s championships and the 30th annual women’s championships will be May 27-29, 2010, in Marion.

"We have been told that the best NAIA championships often are held in smaller communities where the entire community buys into the event," DeMichael said.

The IWU Board of Trustees authorized $300,000 to make the necessary improvements to host the national championships.

Work already has started to expand the seating capacity of IWU’s outdoor track and field facility, which currently has 600 bleacher seats.

IWU worked with Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville to design lawn seating that now is being added to IWU's outdoor track facility. When completed, the facility will seat 3,100 to 3,700 spectators.

Besides the additional seating, IWU also will install a state-of-the art digital scoreboard and will double the size of the press box at the outdoor track. A new hammer-throw area also is being built.

The NAIA National Track and Field Meet also features a marathon, so IWU and Marion officials are working to designate a 26-mile, 385-yard course through the city.

One of the strongest selling points in IWU's bid to host the event was the University's Mondo track. The surface, which is made in Italy, has been used at the track and field venues in the past five Olympic games.

"Historically, the NAIA awards two-year contracts to host the event, but we really wanted a three-year guarantee with an option for a fourth year," DeMichael said. "It is quite an investment in time and finances, and we wanted to know we would have it for the foreseeable future."

At the end of the current four-year agreement, IWU would be eligible to submit a new bid to continue hosting the meet.