Full name | Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium |
---|---|
Location | Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Coordinates | 35°57′03″N83°55′56″W / 35.95094°N 83.93222°W |
Owner | State of Tennessee |
Operator | University of Tennessee |
Capacity | 7,500 |
Record attendance | 9,000 (1968, Tennessee v Villanova) |
Surface | Beynon |
Scoreboard | Daktronics |
Opened | 1966 |
Tenants | |
University of Tennessee Volunteers men's and women's outdoor track and field teams (1966 - present) |
Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium is home to the University of Tennessee Volunteers men's and women's outdoor track and field teams. It is located in the heart of the university's campus in Knoxville, Tennessee. [1]
Known commonly as Tom Black Track, the facility opened in 1966 after former Tennessee track and field coach Chuck Rohe spearheaded a drive to build a track facility for his program. The facility is named in honor of Tom Black, a Knoxville businessman and potato chip entrepreneur (whose company was later acquired by Tom's Snacks), [2] [3] [4] whose donation led to the construction of the track and stadium. The stadium around the track was later named in honor of the LaPorte family, whose donation contributed to improvements made to the facility. [1]
The first competition at the track was a dual meet with Alabama on April 2, 1966.
The record attendance for the facility is 9,000 for a dual meet with Villanova on April 6, 1968. [5]
Tom Black Track has been host to many important meets, including the Southeastern Conference Championships in 1967, 1969, 1978, 1986, 1993, 2003, 2010 and 2018; the USA Track & Field Championships in 1982 and 1994; and the NCAA Championships in 1969 and 1995, [6] among many other significant meets. Tom Black Track also hosts the annual Tennessee Relays (formerly known as the Sea Ray Relays and the Dogwood Relays). [1] [7]
Tom Black Track features an eight-lane, all-weather running surface with all field events held inside the track oval. It has a Daktronics video/scoreboard and has lighting for night meets. Seating capacity for Tom Black Track is 7,500. Temporary seating for the 1969 NCAA Track & Field Championships boosted capacity to seat 10,000 spectators. The facility underwent renovation in 2015 and reopened in 2017 with a new surface by Beynon Sports Surfaces and many other improvements and modifications. [1] [8] [9] [5] [10]
In 2018, the Boyd Family Track & Field Center opened at Tom Black Track. Named in honor of Tennessee graduates and track program benefactors Randy and Jenny Boyd and family, the facility provides the track program with new training, storage and meeting areas as well as new public restrooms and concessions area. [11]
Notable University of Tennessee athletes who have competed at Tom Black Track
The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In January 2021, Danny White was introduced as the Volunteers' Director of Athletics.
Neyland Stadium is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several National Football League (NFL) exhibition games. The stadium's official capacity is 101,915. Constructed in 1921 as Shields–Watkins Field, the stadium has undergone 16 expansion projects, at one point reaching a capacity of 104,079 before being slightly reduced by alterations in the following decade. Neyland Stadium is the sixth largest stadium in the United States, the eighth largest stadium in the world, and the second largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference. The stadium is named for Robert Neyland, who served three stints as head football coach at the University of Tennessee between 1926 and 1952.
Drake Stadium is a stadium on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Best known as the home of the Drake Relays, it also serves as the home field of the university's football team. It opened in 1925.
Mike A. Myers Stadium is the home of The University of Texas Longhorn track and field and soccer teams and also home to the USATF Elite Running Circuit Austin Track Club. The 20,000-seat stadium hosts the historic Texas Relays annually in April, as well as the University Interscholastic League track and field state championship in May.
Tianna Bartoletta is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the long jump and short sprinting events. She is a two-time Olympian with three gold medals. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she placed fourth in the 100m race then won her first gold by leading off the world record-setting 4 × 100 m relay team. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she won two more golds, first with a personal best to win the long jump then again leading off the victorious 4 × 100 m relay team.
Daytona Stadium, originally known as Municipal Stadium, is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Daytona Beach, Florida, that opened in 1988. The stadium is home to the Bethune–Cookman University Wildcats football team, which competes in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). It is also used to host home games for the Mainland High School and Seabreeze High School football teams. The gridiron is known as Larry Kelly Field, a name honoring Lawrence J. Kelly, a former mayor of Daytona Beach.
The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
Hodges Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the University of North Florida (UNF), and the home field for the North Florida Ospreys soccer, track and field, and cross country teams. It is located on the university's campus in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. It is named for George and Kernan Hodges, who donated $2 million to upgrade the facility in 2006.
John McDonnell Field is the outdoor track facility at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and is home to the Arkansas Razorbacks. The field is named after former head coach John McDonnell, who ended his thirty-six-year collegiate head coaching career as the most successful coach in NCAA track history, attaining a total of 42 NCAA Championships in three different sports with the Razorbacks. Renovated in 2006, it is one of only ten International Association of Athletics Federations Class 1 certified tracks in the United States.
The LSU Tigers track and field team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I men's indoor and outdoor track and field.
The LSU Lady Tigers track and field team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I women's indoor and outdoor track and field.
The Bernie Moore Track Stadium is an outdoor track and field facility located on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA. The facility, built in 1969, serves as the outdoor home of the LSU Tigers track and field team and the LSU Lady Tigers track and field team. The stadium has a seating capacity of 5,680. In 1971, the facility was renamed after former LSU football and track & field coach, Bernie Moore. Moore coached the LSU Track and Field teams for 18 years (1930–47) and led the Tigers to their first NCAA National Championship in 1933 as well as 12 SEC crowns.
The Tennessee Volunteers men's track and field program represents the University of Tennessee in the sport of track and field. The indoor and outdoor programs compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Vols host their home outdoor meets at the newly renovated Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium, located on the university's Knoxville, Tennessee campus. Their rich tradition of success features 4 national titles, 7 finishes as national runner-ups, 62 NCAA individual champions, numerous All-Americans, 25 Olympians, 43 SEC championships, and 109 combined scoring appearances in the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships. The team is led by current head coach Duane Ross who took over the program after Beth Alford-Sullivan in May 2022.
The Tennessee Volunteers women's track and field program represents the University of Tennessee in the sport of track and field. The indoor and outdoor programs compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Lady Vols host their home outdoor meets at the newly renovated Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium, located on the university's Knoxville, Tennessee campus. They formally held meets indoors at Stokely Athletic Center until the arenas demolition in 2012, but will soon have a new indoor track facility sometime in the 2020s. The team is led by current head coach Duane Ross who took over the program after the firing of Beth Alford-Sullivan in May 2022.
Keturah Orji is an American track and field athlete specializing in the triple jump. She has set a new US triple jump record twice.
The 1969 NCAA University Division Outdoor Track and Field Championships were contested June 19−21 at the 47th annual NCAA-sanctioned track meet to determine the individual and team national champions of men's collegiate University Division outdoor track and field events in the United States.
The 1995 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships were contested May 31 – June 3 at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee in order to determine the individual and team national champions of men's and women's collegiate Division I outdoor track and field events in the United States.
The 1994 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was organised by USA Track & Field and held from June 15 to 22 at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium, on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The primarily four-day competition served as the national championships in track and field for the United States. The women's 3000 meters was held four days after the primary meet on June 22.
The 1982 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held from June 18 to 20 at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium, on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The three-day competition served as the national championships in track and field for the United States. The meet was organized by The Athletics Congress.
Felix Field and Loker Stadium is an outdoor track and field facility located on the campus of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The facility, rebuilt in 2001, serves as the outdoor home of the USC Trojans men's and women's track and field teams. The stadium is named for Katherine B. Loker and has a seating capacity of 3,000. The field located at the center of the stadium was previously known as Cromwell Field, originally named after Dean Cromwell, USC’s track and field coach from 1909 to 1948. The University renamed the field in 2023 to honor USC alumnae and US Olympian Allyson Felix. The entrance to the facility is called "Louis Zamperini Plaza" and includes tributes to USC's NCAA and Olympic champions.