Mainly clear. Low 62F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Mainly clear. Low 62F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.

An artist’s rendering of the planned track and soccer field at Saint Anselm College.

An artist’s rendering of the planned track and soccer field at Saint Anselm College.

Every year, Saint Anselm College director of athletics Daron Montgomery has prospective students ask if the school offers track and field.

Montgomery can finally answer yes to that question.

Saint Anselm announced last week that it will add men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field as varsity sports and build a new complex for the outdoor programs. The teams will compete in the Northeast-10 Conference and their inaugural seasons will occur during the 2023-24 school year.

Construction on the complex, which will be located on the campus’ south end adjacent to the current soccer field and just south of Sullivan Arena, is scheduled to begin next summer and be completed by the 2024-25 academic year. Montgomery said a decision has not yet been made on whether the project will be completed in phases.

Montgomery, who has been Saint Anselm’s director of athletics for 6½ years, said the college has thought for many years about possibly adding track and field, given its popularity and that many fellow NE-10 member schools offer the sport.

“We’ve done student surveys and, with data from the admissions office, they’re able to track all the high school curricular activities and sports that students who are interested in the college participate in,” Montgomery said, “and girls and boys track and field have consistently been at the top of the list in terms of the sports students are interested in that we weren’t currently sponsoring.

“It’s meeting need, it’s creating opportunities for current and future Saint Anselm students. We just felt like the timing was right coming out of the pandemic and we couldn’t be more excited.”

Montgomery said Saint Anselm briefly considered revamping Grappone Stadium for the outdoor track teams to use but quickly shifted focus to building a new complex. Grappone Stadium did not have enough space to incorporate a track, he said.

The new complex will feature an eight-lane track, a synthetic turf field that will also be used by the men’s and women’s soccer teams, lighting, spectator seating, concessions, and an amenities building with locker rooms, storage and possibly the coaches’ offices.

The lighting and locker rooms are add-ons based on fundraising success and the seating capacity has not yet been decided, Montgomery said.

Montgomery said he did not feel comfortable disclosing a projected cost for the complex.

During the indoor season, the track and field teams will not host meets and will utilize the Carr Center for practices alongside the school’s baseball, softball and lacrosse teams.

Saint Anselm has begun a national search for a director of track and field/head coach, who will oversee the track and cross-country programs. Brian Stankiewicz will remain the cross-country coach and also likely serve as an assistant coach for the track teams, Montgomery said.

Montgomery said he would like to have a head coach hired by Sept. 1 and that the school is looking for a tenacious recruiter to fill that position.

“In Year 1, there’s no direct coaching responsibilities so the focus will be on recruiting men and women student-athletes that will enroll in the fall of 2023,” Montgomery said. “I think recruiting is a big piece but, perhaps just as importantly, is someone who recognizes the success that so many of our teams have had during recent years and wants to be part of building something from the ground up.”

Saint Anselm’s new strategic plan, which runs through 2025, identified athletics as one of the school’s thriving areas, Montgomery said. The school had 423 student-athletes six years ago and will have 530 this fall, he said.

“We’ve seen athletics as an area of growth and so now the college has made several significant investments and improvements,” Montgomery said.

By the end of the summer, Saint Anselm will have replaced the turf field at Grappone Stadium, built new locker rooms for several teams at Sullivan Arena, replaced the sound systems at three athletic venues, updated scoreboards at four venues, resurfaced its tennis courts and made bullpen and fencing upgrades on its baseball and softball fields, Montgomery said.

“The track announcement is sort of the culmination of all those improvements,” Montgomery said.

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