Spectrum - Volume 20 Issue 07 October 9, 1997 - New track complex dedicated

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including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

New track complex dedicated

By Jack Williams

Spectrum Volume 20 Issue 08 - October 16, 1997

Virginia Tech's new Johnson-Miller Outdoor Track Complex has been dedicated.
University President Paul Torgersen, interim Athletic Director Sharon McCloskey, Men's Track Coach Russ Whitenack, and other dignitaries participated in the dedication ceremony.
The new track is located across from Lane Stadium/Worsham Field. The Johnson-Miller Track Complex was dedicated in honor of W. Stuart Johnson and Jack William Miller Jr., two former Tech track stars from Richmond, whose loyalty and support made possible the construction of the new track.
Johnson, Tech's Mr. Track in 1952, was the first man elected to the Virginia Tech Hall of Fame solely on his records in track and field. Miller was co-captain of the 1953 track team. Johnson ran the 440, 220 and mile relay. Miller competed in a number of events, but his specialty was the mile run.
The new outdoor oval track with eight 42-inch lanes has a Mondo surface, identical to the one at the new Atlanta Stadium on which Olympic Games athletes participated last summer. On the Tech track, the school colors, orange and maroon, are featured on alternating lanes.
The complex includes a pole-vault pit, long jump and triple jump areas, steeplechase lanes and areas for shot put, discus, hammer throw, javelin and high-jump events. For sprints, 10 lanes have been placed in one stretch on the south side of the track.
A nine-foot berm at the south end of the track ultimately will be terraced to provide six rows of seating.
The outdoor track is one of 20 of its kind in this country, while the indoor track, used for the first time last winter, is one of five of its kind in the U.S.