MC announces plans for Austin Coleman Piper Memorial Track, reintroduction of track and field
Oct. 22, 2021
Maryville College is adding a new sports program and constructing a new sports facility on its campus.
During the College’s Founder’s Day event held Friday night in the Clayton Center for the Arts, Maryville College President Bryan F. Coker announced plans to construct the Austin Coleman Piper Memorial Track and begin recruiting for men’s and women’s track and field teams. With these additions, the College now has 16 varsity sports teams available to student-athletes.
The new facility, named for the beloved board chair and 1968 alumnus who passed away unexpectedly Aug. 26 following an accident in Ellicott, N.Y., will include a turf infield for use by the College’s current teams. It is expected to cost between $2 million and $3 million.
“The Board of Directors approved the plan just earlier today, and the new track and field facility will be constructed right next to our new soccer pitch and softball field,” Coker told the crowd of donors and alumni who had gathered in the Ronald & Lynda Nutt Theatre. “Gifts already made to MC in memory of Cole Piper are being earmarked for this facility, and additional fundraising for the track facility will be coordinated through our Advancement Office.”
Coker said the late board chair was a member of the College’s track and field team during his student days in the 1960s. Maryville College offered the sport for male students from 1892 until 1983.
“Those of you who knew Cole from his MC days know that track and field was a sport in which he participated and really excelled,” Coker said. “I know he would be so pleased to see this sport make a comeback here after a nearly 40-year absence, and I know he would be humbled to see his name attached to it.”
With plans for a March groundbreaking, the track is expected to be ready for meets in Spring 2023. Coker told the crowd that recruitment for the teams would start immediately, and that a national search for a director of men’s and women’s track and field would open on Oct. 25.
The College last added a sport – golf – in 2009. Its newest sports facility, a locker facility for the baseball team, opened in 2019.
Addition is part of expansion plan
Maryville College Athletics Director Sara Quatrocky said reintroduction of track and field has been discussed for several years.
“Men’s and women’s track and field is a great start to our overall sport expansion plan at Maryville College,” she said. “The two programs will assist the College in enrollment, while attracting high-achieving academic students. The women’s track and field program will also assist in our efforts to offer additional opportunities for female-identifying students to participate in intercollegiate athletics.”
The USA South Athletic Conference, of which Maryville College is a member, sponsors championships in track and field, so the College’s student-athletes would be eligible to compete in not only conference championships, but NCAA championships.
Quatrocky said she expects our current men’s and women’s cross country teams to thrive in the transition of a spring addition to track and field. Long distance runners will now have two seasons in which to compete during the academic year.
“When starting a program in year one, you focus on building around the distance running, sprinting, hurdles and jumping events,” she explained. “Also, our Athletic Department has some current student-athletes on other varsity teams who may be interested in competing in some of the field events.”
Quatrocky said she expects to attract quality candidates for the director position and intends to build a solid foundation for the program with a group of coaches.
“This is an exciting time to be a part of our department,” she said. “After the staff has been identified, we will hit the ground running, focusing on local and regional recruiting in hopes of fielding 15 student-athletes on each of the men’s and women’s team in year one.”
She added that building a facility that will directly impact so many students is “a perfect way” to honor the late board chair.
“Cole’s support of our department and the student experience was always something I personally admired, and I’m excited to see his name attached to this special project,” she said. “A facility like this sends a message that Maryville College is moving forward in a direction the current students should be proud of and prospective students should want to come be a part of in the future.”