Drake Stadium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Drake Stadium is a stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. It is primarily used for the Drake Relays, and is the home field of the Drake University Bulldogs. It opened in 1925 and holds 18,000 people. A large scale renovation of the stadium was completed in 2006. In February 2006, the football field at Drake Stadium was named in honor of Drake alumnus and football great, Johnny Bright.

Drake Stadium has seen the Drake Bulldogs win ten conference championships in football, while advancing to nine college football bowl games. As part of the stadium renovation an artificial surface was installed for both football and soccer.

Drake Stadium is also the home to the Drake Relays one of the premier track and field meets in the country. Thousands of high school, college, and professional track athletes come to Drake Stadium in late April to compete in one of the largest track meets in the United States.

The 2005-06 renovation project improved many aspects of the stadium. The surface area of the stadium was flattened (previously the infield sat several feet lower than the track surface). It created a reconfigured track to meet NCAA, national and international standards, improved seating, and added a "safety lane" on the outside of the track for athletes (in the old configuration, fans could easily make contact with a competitor in lane 8). In addition, a new scoreboard with video screen was placed at the northeast corner of the stadium.

In August of 2006, the NCAA selected Drake Stadium as the venue for the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[1]

Current Football Stadiums in the Pioneer Football League
Brown Field (Valparaiso) • Butler Bowl (Butler) • D.B. Milne Field (Jacksonville) • Drake Stadium (Drake) • Jayne Stadium (Morehead State) • Richardson Stadium (Davidson) • Torero Stadium (San Diego) • Welcome Stadium (Dayton)