Morris Williams Track & Field Stadium Will Officially Open Monday
By Chris Brown
With the renovations to the Wallace Wade Football Stadium in progress and the newly finished Kennedy Tower completed, Duke Athletics recently announced that it’s new track and field facility, Morris Williams Track and Field Stadium, is now complete and will officially be open to the public on Monday, Jan. 19th. The track will be used for Duke men’s and women’s track & field practice and events, but the facility is also available to members of the community.
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Director of Track and Field Norm Ogilvie had this to say about the new complex, “2015 is a great new beginning for both Duke track & field and the Durham running community…We couldn’t be happier with the way this facility turned out. We had some input on the design, but they far exceeded our expectations. Congratulations to the people who constructed it.” A schedule of availability and hours of operation can be seen here.
The new stadium is a now one of the top facilities in the NCAA and is specifically dedicated to all track and field events for runners, jumpers, and throwers in one space. Previously, the Duke Track and Field program had to share Wallace Wade scheduling with the football team.
Mar 15, 2014; Albuquerque, NM, USA; Curtis Beach of Duke clears 16-6 3/4 (5.05m) in the heptathlon pole vault in the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships at Albuquerque Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
According to Ogilvie, there are also several advantages to not having the track surrounding a football field- “With this track not around a football field, it has a much wider turn radius, so the times will be the faster. For the throwers it’s fantastic because we have all four throwing events located in the middle of the infield, front and center, instead of off in a distant field someplace…. It’s going to be great for recruiting as well.”
Morris Williams and his wife, Ruth, are both alums of Duke University and donated $5 million to support Duke athletics, specifically track and field. The Williams’ have been very active in Durham and remain involved with Duke participating in the Board of Trustees, the Athletics Advisory and Leadership boards, and other university committees.
Duke’s Track and Field program will start their 2015 season for men’s and women’s track at the Carolina Cup hosted by UNC Chapel Hill on January 16th. Duke will be competing against UNC, East Carolina, and Gardner Webb in the event. The first event held at Williams Track & Field Stadium will be Duke Inivational on April 11th.