Athletic Facilities

Ohio State ended an extensive phase of growth in the fall of 2001 when the three-year renovation of historic Ohio Stadium, home of Buckeye football, was completed.

The near $200-million project culminated the vision Andy Geiger (former director of athletics at Ohio State) set out to complete upon his arrival in Columbus in the spring of 1994. During his tenure, the Younkin Academic Success Center, the Jerome Schottenstein Center (men’s and women’s basketball and men’s ice hockey), Bill Davis Baseball Stadium and the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium (men’s and women’s track, soccer and lacrosse) opened to serve Buckeye student-athletes and the OSU community.

Ohio State, already a national leader with its state-of-the-art athletics facilities, distanced itself even more with well over $300 million in facility upgrades, which are being paid for without the help of student fees or general university funds.

Though new practice and competition areas highlight the OSU athletics landscape, several other nationally-recognized facilities complete an outstanding compilation of athletics structures for the 36 sports and roughly 1,000 student-athletes competing on the Ohio State campus.

The men’s and women’s track teams practice and compete during the winter in French Field House. The 200-meter track features a Chevron 440 surface, the best running surface available.

St. John Arena, named after former Director of Athletics L.W. St. John, first opened its doors in 1956 and affords spectators one of the finest experiences in college athletics. The arena includes locker rooms, team meeting areas and a four-color scoreboard. The 13,276-seat structure is the home of the men’s and women’s volleyball teams, the wrestling team and the men’s and women’s gymnastics teams.

A facility housing new locker rooms, practice areas and office space for wrestling, men’s and women’s gymnastics and fencing is expected to be completed in the fall of 2002. Located near the Ohio State campus. the Steelwood Facility became a necessity when Larkins Hall, an on-campus recreational facility housing several Buckeye teams, was approved for renovation.

The Larkins Hall project, a joint venture with the university and the athletics department, will add a modern Olympic-style training and competition facility for the Ohio State swimming and diving teams. The project is scheduled for completion in 2005.

Dedicated in November 1987 in memory of the late Ohio State football coach, the Woody Hayes Athletic Center is one of the finest, most extensive indoor practice facilities of its kind. The indoor field accommodates field hockey and football practices during inclement weather in the fall, baseball and softball practices throughout the winter and lacrosse practices during the spring.

Home tennis matches are played at the Stickney Tennis Center, located adjacent to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. The facility features 12 courts with a special laykold finish and scarlet and gray trim. The courts are built in pairs to accommodate spectators and were resurfaced in the spring of 2002, just prior to the 2002 Big Ten Men’s Tennis Tournament.

The softball team plays at Buckeye Field, recognized as one of the finest playing surfaces in the Big Ten. The squad capitalized on its home field in 2002 with a 20-2 record and over the last two seasons the Buckeyes have an incredible 81 percent home winning percentage (42-10).

Ohio State operates two of the country’s finest 18-hole golf courses, The Scarlet and The Gray. The 7,100-yard Scarlet Course is rated among the finest collegiate layouts in the nation and is home to the men’s and women’s teams. It has been the site of an NCAA-record 10 men’s and three women’s national championships. The 2002 NCAA Men’s Golf Championships were contested on The OSU Scarlet Course.