Learn More about OWU’s Spectacular Selby Stadium
Ohio Wesleyan’s Selby Stadium and George Gauthier Track will be filled with stellar track & field athletes, coaches, and spectators May 26-28, when Ohio Wesleyan hosts the 2011 NCAA Division III national outdoor track & field championships. Competition will begin at noon each day. (Photo by Flying Fotos, LLC)
The 2011 NCAA Division III men’s and women’s national outdoor track & field championships will be held May 26-28 at Ohio Wesleyan University’s Selby Stadium, 45 S. Henry St. Here are some facts about this historic stadium:
Selby Stadium has been home to the Battling Bishops since 1929. The stadium is used by the OWU football, field hockey, men’s and women’s track & field, and men’s and women’s lacrosse teams. Selby is believed to be the oldest facility in the nation constructed to Olympic specifications and remaining in its original configuration. Selby seats 9,100 people in its bleachers with all seats falling between the 15-yard lines of the field. Selby was the site of 19 of the first 26 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) outdoor track & field championships. Selby is in the process of installing a video scoreboard with audio capabilities. The scoreboard will be used for the first time at the upcoming national championships. Selby features an OmniGrass artificial playing surface and Light-Structure Green™ stadium lighting, allowing evening events. (The upcoming championships will begin at noon each day and feature night events May 26-27.) Selby was designed by George Gauthier, Ohio Wesleyan’s Hall of Fame football coach, track & field coach, and athletic director. It houses the George Gauthier Track, named in his honor, which features an Ameritan FP surface. Selby was constructed by the Osborn Engineering Company, the same firm that designed the original Yankee Stadium. The complex was named after George D. Selby, who served on the Ohio Wesleyan Board of Trustees for 24 years. His sons, Mark, Homer, Pearl, and Roger, contributed $100,000 of the project’s $160,000 cost. On March 18, 1985, Selby Stadium, then known as Selby Field, was added to the National Register of Historic Places.