Editorial in The Hoya: Provide Varsity Track Facility

[RusskyHoya]

Hard to argue with this. Also, this is a cringe-inducing quote that I could imagine every rival coach using against us in recruiting:

The lack of private facilities is not only inconvenient for Georgetown’s track and field teams, but also actively detracts from the quality of their training and development, according to runner Price Owens (NHS ’22).

“Not having a university owned track requires us to share a track with dogs and random people walking, which in the past has caused injuries and complications for the team and others,” Owens wrote in a message to The Hoya.

[Bigs"R"Us]

It’s sad. The baseball team plays off campus, as will the new women’s squash team. Many high schools have better athletic facilities. The TAC is nice, but nothing else is going to impress recruits. I get that land is precious and budget tight.

[Nevada Hoya]

This is a problem that we fans of the Hoya running programs have complained about. Twenty to 25 years ago the team had a very nice track, but since it was above Yates, it tended to leak into the underground facility, so it was ripped up. For a few year Georgetown did not have any outdoor track. Some of the dedicated alumni (the late great Dr. Jack Reilly being one of them) were able to arrange for the Hoyas to use the Ellington neighborhood track. I believe they helped in the renovation of the track. On one of my visits to GU I witnessed a workout on this four or five lane five laps to the mile track. The distance runners were going one way, the sprint guys the other way, and half way through the workout neighborhood kids started using the track.

It has been a tribute for the team to do as well as they have the past 15 years, especially the steeplechasers with no water pit available on the track. But yes recruiting must be hard to sell a track and field program without a track.