Aug. 28, 2010

By Thomas Lenneberg, ASU Media Relations

Twelve months of championship aspirations, newsworthy achievements, and the chance to represent both teammates and classmates begins August 29 as the women's soccer team takes on Baylor in the first intercollegiate competition of the 2010-11 athletic season. Although the student-athletes are the one's contending for everlasting glory, the employees of the Sun Devil's operations and facilities department are the one's there to ensure the hope that college sports brings continues each fall.

Throughout the past year, student-athletics challenged their opponents on the gridiron, diamond, track and hardwood, in the pool, on the beam and through a course of sand and grass, above a mat and across a net. ASU Karsten Golf Course, Whiteman Tennis Center, Mona Plummer Aquatic Center and Packard Stadium are just a few of over 12 facilities that were in use for more than 14,500 hours during the 2009-10 fiscal year.

"Our job week to week is to not let [the grounds] get beaten up," Pete Wozniak, Athletic Facilities Maintenance Manager, said.

Wozniak, whose primary duty is to oversee the upkeep of Sun Devil Stadium, also takes care of Farrington Softball Stadium, Verde Dickey Dome, the band practice field and the ASU Soccer Stadium. He said a standard Tuesday for him and his crew includes painting the lines on two football practice fields, two band fields and a soccer field, as well as maintaining the football and softball stadiums.

Of the more than 330 competitive events welcomed by the ASU athletic department, approximately 90 did not involve the maroon and gold, turning the campus into a gathering point for the entire Phoenix area.

Sun Devil Stadium hosted both Band Day and Pat's Run, which drew roughly 5,000 and 27,000 people, respectively, and Sun Angel Tack was the home of the PF Chang's Rock N' Roll Marathon, along with three divisions of high school track and field championships. Three different Major League Soccer teams utilized the ASU Soccer Field, and 53 various sports camps and clinics totaling more than 160 days of facility usage took place in the past year.

Between Aug. 2009 and Aug. 2010, the operations and facilities department focused on not only maintaining the various grounds and arenas scattered across Tempe campus, but also improving them. While general repairs, which included resurfacing the courts at Whiteman Tennis Center and painting the loge beams at Sun Devil Stadium, are part of every grounds crew's mission, the extra effort to make these sporting sanctuaries more accessible, fan-friendly and sustainable is what sets the Sun Devil team apart.

Whether it was the pre-season NIT or post-season WNIT, a six-game volleyball tournament or a wrestling meet, Wells Fargo Arena was the center for 70 competitive events spanning five sports. In order to enhance the experience that nearly 150,000 fans had last year, the maintenance corps updated scoreboards and video screens, and added new shot clocks and an LED scorer's table at the facility.

The addition of a 40-yard recycling dumpster at Sun Devil Stadium, as well as solar panels on the roof of the Weatherup Center and the Carson Athletic Center further ASU's continued efforts to go green.

The hard work and dedication exhibited by the operations and facilities department over the seasons was nationally recognized this past year. Facility student assistant Lorenzo Lopez was selected from a countrywide contest with Toro, a lawnmower and commercial landscaping company, to assist in preparing the field for Super Bowl XLIV.