Track and Field Excellence at the University of Minnesota and the Big Ten Conference
Nestled in the heart of the new Athletes Village, the University of Minnesota’s new track and field stadium will rival the NCAA’s leading facilities. The new complex will give the Golden Gophers their first opportunity in nearly two decades to host home meets, including Big Ten and collegiate competitions.
The Stadium will not only provide a first-class experience for the young men and women who compete for Minnesota, but will also provide local high schools and clubs a venue for state meets and USA Track and Field’s marquee events.
"To maintain a successful, broad-based athletics department, our students need first-class facilities to train, practice and compete," said athletics director Mark Coyle. "This new outdoor track and field stadium will provide that type of facility for our men's and women's track and field programs while giving them a long-term, on-campus home."
Officials opted for Beynon’s performance series, the Olympic-caliber BSS 2000 system, featuring a force-reduction layer of high performance butyl rubber and full-depth color polyurethane.
A leading surface in the NCAA, Beynon Sports is the surface of choice for 10 of the 14 programs in the Big Ten - University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, Ohio State University, Penn State University, Michigan State University, Purdue University, University of Iowa, University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin and University of Maryland.
“We are ecstatic that schools within the Big Ten Conference continue to recognize and trust the quality that only Beynon can provide,” said Drew Beynon, Chief Operating Officer of Beynon Sports. “Knowing that so many top-level track and field programs are selecting Beynon validates the stringent quality control standards that we set for ourselves.”
Tour the Beynon surfaces in the Big Ten:
University of Michigan
In 2017, the University of Michigan unveiled their new state-of-the-art indoor track and field complex featuring Beynon Sports’ Rise-N-Run hydraulic track. The new surface will allow the Wolverines to have full control over the track, allowing athletes to raise and lower the track surface to specific angles of embankment to counteract centrifugal force caused by their circular motion and achieve unparalleled racing times.
“I would like to thank Beynon Sports Surfaces for the design, building and installation of this world class facility. This is one of the greatest facilities in the world and far exceeds our expectations.” said Jerry Clayton, Head Coach of Men’s Track & Field at the University of Michigan. “It has been a pleasure to work with Beynon Sports Surfaces and specifically John Beynon. The craftsmanship and finished product is in a class of its own, resulting in a facility that will benefit present and future Michigan student-athletes for many years to come.”
Ohio State University
The scope of work tasked to Beynon Sports at Ohio State was a difficult one as all 16 take-off runways needed to be replaced within a very aggressive timeframe. Beynon Sports worked closely with Ohio State’s facilities staff to ensure Buckeye athletes would be able to reap the benefits of the BSS 2000 Resurfacing System without delay.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium features nine 48” lanes, four long/triple jump pits, two javelin runways, four pole vault boxes and a steeple chase pit. In addition, the stadium hosts the Ohio High School Track & Field Championships each year.
Michigan State University
Located in the heart of campus, adjacent to Spartan Stadium, Ralph Young Field was constructed for the dual purpose of housing the MSU field hockey program as well as the men's and women's track and field programs. The Beynon track will play host to the annual Spartan Invitational and provide Michigan State’s athletes a safe and durable surface to train and compete.
Purdue University
As the trusted surface of Purdue University’s outdoor track, Rankin Track and Field Complex, since 2008, Beynon has witnessed the Boilermakers growth into a leading national power. Recently, Purdue’s women’s team claimed the 2017 Big Ten Championship.
Purdue recently unveiled their new indoor surface at Lambert Fieldhouse, utilizing the Beynon Hobart texture mixed throughout the wear layer giving athletes the necessary traction for improved response times and total control.
“We’re always happy with the work Beynon does, they poured our outdoor track and it was time for us to get a new indoor surface.” said Norbert Elliott, Head Track & Field Coach at Purdue University. “The color coordination works really well and the new track feels fast!”
University of Iowa
In 2014, Joey Woody, then an assistant coach with the UI track and field team, made a call to representatives from Beynon Sports to ask the industry leader in sports surfacing about facility renovations to the Recreation Building. It turns out that Beynon had just what Woody was looking for. The 2016 Track and Field Indoor World Championships were scheduled for Portland, Oregon, and Beynon was tasked with building the indoor track for the event.
“They told me they were building it for the Indoor World Championships, and afterwards they would have to sell it,” said Woody, now the UI track and field director. “We live in Iowa, so I know how important it is to have a quality indoor track.”
An elite Beynon track was installed at the Oregon Convention Center for the USATF Indoor Championships and the IAAF World Championships. Nine months later, 18 trucks carrying the dissembled Beynon track traveled from Portland, Oregon to the University of Iowa where over 2,000 tons of steel were transformed into a six-lane, 200-meter banked track unlike any other in the United States.
"The new track has been a game changer for our program, Beynon is going to take the facility from the middle of the Big Ten pack to one of the best in the world,” Woody said. “There are not many facilities and tracks in the whole world that have a better set-up.”
University of Illinois
Competition during the indoor track and field season takes place at the UI Armory track. Following the 2003 track and field season, a $1.2 million renovation project was undertaken to improve the infrastructure of the Armory track surface.
Beynon installed a 13mm thick, 200m encapsulated polyurethane track that features six lanes on the oval and eight lanes on the straight, providing the University of Illinois with one of the finest indoor facilities in the Midwest. The Armory hosted the 2007 Women's Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships and the 2011 Men's Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships.
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland track and field teams train at one of the top facilities in the Baltimore-Washington region, the Kehoe Track and Field Complex. The Terps hope to build off their best season in program history, last year a school-record six athletes headed to Eugene, Oregon, for the NCAA Championships at the historic Beynon track at Hayward Field. The Terrapins will open up their outdoor season by hosting the annual Maryland Invitational in College Park, a short drive from Beynon's 50,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Hunt Valley, Maryland.
University of Wisconsin
The University of Wisconsin has been outfitted with both indoor and outdoor Beynon track facilities. The Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center, known as The Shell, serves as the home of the men's and women's track and field teams during the indoor season. The Shell offers a 200-meter track which was resurfaced in 2008.
The Dan McClimon Memorial Outdoor Track Complex features a 400-meter track which was the site of the 2012 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Track Championship. Nine conference records were broken during the three-day meet which saw the men's squad win the Big Ten title on their home track. Excellent for both sprinters and distance runners, the university’s outdoor track is the jewel of the Badger track and field program.
“Several of our Big Ten coaching colleagues have provided us with positive commentary on the quality of the track surface and credited it as a reason for the overall outstanding performances.” said Ed Nuttycombe, Head Coach of Men’s Track and Field at the University of Wisconsin.
Despite being close to two decades old, the surface at McClimon Memorial track has continued to surpass industry expectations and will for many years to come. When asked what makes a Beynon track outperform industry standards, John Beynon’s response was as simple as it was profound:
“As the industry leaders, we’ve surrounded ourselves with the top minds in the business and continuously strive to achieve greatness, from research and development, to customer service, to offering a vast array of IAAF certified surfaces. Beynon Sports is the full-pour specialists in athletic surfacing, and have been revolutionizing the full-pour sports surfacing industry since the 70s. In short, we are continuously chasing perfection, while our competition is continuously chasing us.”
With over 2,500 installations in North America in the last 10 years, Beynon has been the trusted surface of track and field programs at every level. We're ready to get started on your project! Ask us how we can make your dream facility a reality.