One of the biggest mysteries on the campus of Saint Anselm is where could the new track that was promised to a young and anxious track and field program possibly be? There could be numerous reasons why it’s not here yet, the college could have other priorities right now, with a shifting conversatio program and an ever growing housing problem with more and more students submitting their deposits with some being rising track and field athletes. The demand for the new field is getting higher and higher. With the track and field having to pack their bags and equipment and head to another facility for every meet, the need and possible complaining is ever most noticeable. The team has been through a lot and a new facility that is delayed for God knows what is the last thing on people’s minds. With the program in its sophomore season, there is a lot of hype as with last year about what the team was capable of. The team is filled with record setters and record breakers. The brand new, state of the art facility was announced at the 2022-23 academic year but roughly 3 years there is ground being broken, no signs of construction, no update, and frankly no signs of life. When announced, the expected completion was 2025 but with no progress and frankly no track whatsoever, it looks like it will be even longer before we see a track and field facility on campus. 

Despite the lack of a facility, the team is still flying high and growing. Though the program is young, the runners are dashing for progress quickly. With a program that is quickly making headlines, we have to wonder why they don’t have a facility right on their home campus yet, there could be a number of reasons. There could be no way that the college simply and totally forgot about the track. One possible reason why we don’t see the facility yet could be the

current housing problem. The college is going through a massively growing community, with even more future students submitting their deposits every year. The college is currently turning office buildings into dorms because of this, and obviously this costs a lot of money, using it for the construction companies and all the beds, dressers and all the stuff that makes a building a dorm. Another reason is the even more money that was put into the brand new and giant nursing facility that is still in progress of construction with a projected completion at the beginning of the 2025 fall semester. A lot more money was put into building and it makes sense that college would do this because nursing is one of if not the top major at Saint Anselm. It appears that college is currently focused on housing and the nursing building so it looks like they are putting the track on hold so they can solve these issues and give their full attention to building the facility. The college knows they might want to start building the track sooner rather than later because there may come a time when they are unable to construct it at all. Another possible reason why we don’t have the facility yet could be the difficulty finding the proper space for it. The college is surrounded by woods and homes of Manchester/Goffstown residents so it would take a lot of time and money to remove the trees and not disturb the surrounding houses. 

All in all, the track and field program is here to stay but it may be a long time before we see the big facility that was promised a few years ago.