The Sacramento State track and field program begins its ninth season in the renovated Hornet Stadium. Seating just over 21,000, the stadium remains the University’s most impressive athletic facility and the largest track facility in the Big Sky Conference. Thanks to a generous donation by philanthropist Alex G. Spanos, Hornet Stadium underwent a major renovation in May of 1998 to accommodate the upgrades for the 2000 Olympic Trials. Reconstruction of the existing track was completed by August, just three months later. A separate warm-up track followed in 1999. In 2003, upgrades were made to the stadium lighting and a new scoreboard was installed for both track and football.
Regarded as one of the fastest surfaces in the country, Hornet Stadium has also hosted the 2001 Junior Olympics, the 2003, 2005 and 2006 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 2004 U.S Track and Field Olympic Trials. The venue will also be the site of the 2007 NCAA Div. I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The track has been used by some of the best athletes in the world. Since it was installed in 1999, one world record, six American records, 22 Olympic Trials records, eight U.S. Championship records, nine NCAA records, three American junior records and two national high school records have been set at the facility. That list is surely to grow as the NCAA Championship Meet returns to Sacramento State for one more year.
The stadium track is surfaced with Mondo Sportflex Super X and features eight 1.22 meter-wide lanes on the oval and nine lanes for the 200 and 100 meter races. The track has a 37-meter radius with the steeplechase water jump on the inside of the track on the North curve.
The field event areas include two dual directional long/triple jump runways positioned on the inside of the East side of the track. There are also two dual directional pole vault runways located inside the North end of the track. The high jump has two approach areas on each end. The field event approach surfaces are all Mondo Sportsflex Super X. All throwing events can be contested on the infield inside the track.
In addition to the high-quality stadium track, there is a 400-meter oval practice track located just to the North of the stadium. The additional track is used for warm-ups at large meets and as an extra practice site. The second track is also surfaced with Mondo Sportsflex Super X and has a six-lane straightaway with a two-lane 400 meter oval built to the same specifications of the stadium track. All jumping and throwing events have runways, pits, and rings within the practice facility.
