Photo by: Don Paul
Lehigh Breaks Ground on New Track and Field Building
5/12/2017 9:30:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track and Field, Tickets, Features
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A major project took an important step forward on May 6 as Lehigh officially broke ground on a brand new track and field building at the Goodman Track and Field Complex. The ceremony took place as part of the festivities during the Patriot League Championships, which were hosted by Lehigh this past weekend.
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The John and Carol Covert Track and Field Pavilion will be located at the south end of the Goodman Campus Track and feature a storage area, meeting space, restrooms, a press box and a covered outdoor pavilion. The building will be named in honor of longtime Lehigh track and cross country head coach John Covert and his wife, Carol. John headed the Mountain Hawks programs from 1967-1992 and was inducted into the Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005. During his tenure, his teams broke every school record, won six East Coast Conference championships and numerous IC4A titles.
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The ceremony featured a gathering of numerous alumni, donors and friends of the Lehigh track and cross country programs. Speeches were delivered by Dean of Athletics Joe Sterrett, Coach Covert, former cross country/track & field athletes Jim Davis '79 and David Thomson '83 '84G '13P '18P, and current head track and field coach Matt Utesch. The facility will be the first permanent structure built at the Goodman Track Complex, which opened in 1995.
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"To come back and honor coach and Carol Covert, it's amazing," Davis said. "He's really the founder of the program, and all of us who joined the Lehigh cross country and track & field program in the 1970's came here because of him. It's definitely going to be appreciated, not only by the current athletes, but by the ones who come in the future, and those of us old guys who are going to come back to watch the meets and enjoy."
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"I thoroughly enjoyed the honor," Covert said. "And as I said in my remarks, any and all accomplishments really weren't mine; they belonged to those athletes that participated."
(5/6/2017) Track Building Groundbreaking Ceremony
"Symbolically it's really meaningful that we're honoring the legacy of John Covert and really saying that track and field matters to this university," Sterrett said. "John is the kind of person who is very humble about his own achievements, and what's important to him is recognizing the people who were a part of it around him, and we'll now be able to do that in a very visible way."
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"I've been working with John for over a decade trying to come up with something to recognize his legacy and the impact he had on the Lehigh cross country and track and field programs," Thomson said. "Naming this complex after him is a great way of doing that."
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"It'll give us a place to rally around as a team," Utesch said. "Right now when we go to practice, we just drop our stuff wherever and then break into event groups. This will give us a place to have a location where our team can gather."
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"The facility we're going to build is going to help all the student-athletes because out here there is really no protection or bathrooms," Thomson said. "It's going to help the student-athletes as well as the organizers to run meets out here."
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The project is not limited to just the new building next to the track. Other planned improvements include new fencing around the track, plus a new Cross Country Pavilion near the start/finish area of the cross country course, which will be similar to the Rust and Mistele Pavilions on the Goodman Campus.
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To date, $1.1 million has been pledged to fund the combined projects. A total of $1.6 million must be raised. Donors can fulfill their pledges over a five year period. Fundraising is ongoing and construction will begin when pledge commitments reach $1.6 million. Donors will be recognized on plaques at both the track pavilion and the cross country pavilion. Interested parties should contact the Director of Development for Lehigh Athletics, Joe Gnall, at jdg699@lehigh.edu or (610) 758-2835.
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Follow Lehigh Track and Field on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A major project took an important step forward on May 6 as Lehigh officially broke ground on a brand new track and field building at the Goodman Track and Field Complex. The ceremony took place as part of the festivities during the Patriot League Championships, which were hosted by Lehigh this past weekend.
Â
The John and Carol Covert Track and Field Pavilion will be located at the south end of the Goodman Campus Track and feature a storage area, meeting space, restrooms, a press box and a covered outdoor pavilion. The building will be named in honor of longtime Lehigh track and cross country head coach John Covert and his wife, Carol. John headed the Mountain Hawks programs from 1967-1992 and was inducted into the Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005. During his tenure, his teams broke every school record, won six East Coast Conference championships and numerous IC4A titles.
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The ceremony featured a gathering of numerous alumni, donors and friends of the Lehigh track and cross country programs. Speeches were delivered by Dean of Athletics Joe Sterrett, Coach Covert, former cross country/track & field athletes Jim Davis '79 and David Thomson '83 '84G '13P '18P, and current head track and field coach Matt Utesch. The facility will be the first permanent structure built at the Goodman Track Complex, which opened in 1995.
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"To come back and honor coach and Carol Covert, it's amazing," Davis said. "He's really the founder of the program, and all of us who joined the Lehigh cross country and track & field program in the 1970's came here because of him. It's definitely going to be appreciated, not only by the current athletes, but by the ones who come in the future, and those of us old guys who are going to come back to watch the meets and enjoy."
Â
"I thoroughly enjoyed the honor," Covert said. "And as I said in my remarks, any and all accomplishments really weren't mine; they belonged to those athletes that participated."
"Symbolically it's really meaningful that we're honoring the legacy of John Covert and really saying that track and field matters to this university," Sterrett said. "John is the kind of person who is very humble about his own achievements, and what's important to him is recognizing the people who were a part of it around him, and we'll now be able to do that in a very visible way."
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"I've been working with John for over a decade trying to come up with something to recognize his legacy and the impact he had on the Lehigh cross country and track and field programs," Thomson said. "Naming this complex after him is a great way of doing that."
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"It'll give us a place to rally around as a team," Utesch said. "Right now when we go to practice, we just drop our stuff wherever and then break into event groups. This will give us a place to have a location where our team can gather."
Â
"The facility we're going to build is going to help all the student-athletes because out here there is really no protection or bathrooms," Thomson said. "It's going to help the student-athletes as well as the organizers to run meets out here."
Â
The project is not limited to just the new building next to the track. Other planned improvements include new fencing around the track, plus a new Cross Country Pavilion near the start/finish area of the cross country course, which will be similar to the Rust and Mistele Pavilions on the Goodman Campus.
Â
To date, $1.1 million has been pledged to fund the combined projects. A total of $1.6 million must be raised. Donors can fulfill their pledges over a five year period. Fundraising is ongoing and construction will begin when pledge commitments reach $1.6 million. Donors will be recognized on plaques at both the track pavilion and the cross country pavilion. Interested parties should contact the Director of Development for Lehigh Athletics, Joe Gnall, at jdg699@lehigh.edu or (610) 758-2835.
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Follow Lehigh Track and Field on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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