Winter
Sports Made Possible by Smith Indoor Track
Were
it not for the use of Smith’s
Indoor Track and Tennis (ITT) facility, hundreds of athletes
would forgo winter competition, say the coaches of more than
20 high school track and field teams that crowd into the
campus building every Friday night of the season for meets
(view related film).
It’s not only regional high schoolers
who enjoy the refuge of the ITT and the escape from winter
cold and conditions it affords.
Early morning walkers and
runners can continue their exercise regimens when outdoor
activity is curtailed by taking advantage of the ITT’s
program of opening to the public from 6 to 8 a.m. through
the season. And those too young for school track
teams—aspiring athletes in grades kindergarten to 8th—practice
on the ITT track every Sunday night as members of the Sugarloaf
Mountain Athletic Club youth program.
Of course, the ITT,
with its state-of-the-art, rubber-covered track, provides
a competitive practice and meet facility for Smith’s sports
teams—including, in addition to track and field, tennis and
fencing, as well as for several camps and evening programs.
But since it was built in 1986,
the ITT has offered multiple uses to the college and community.
It stands in as the rain backup site for Smith’s annual commencement,
as the venue for the School for Social Work commencement
in August, and the place to which students first report upon
arrival at Smith, at Central Check-In.
On Friday nights in winter,
though, high school track is the "big show" at the ITT. The
building comes alive with runners, high jumpers, hurdlers,
shot putters and long jumpers—some 1,700 athletes in all,
plus their coaches and families cheering them on.
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