“They’re tearing up the track” at Ben Lippen School!

During track and field season, that idiom takes on one meaning describing the fastest athletes. But this summer, it means something entirely different. The track is literally being torn up. Well OK, more literally — broken up — to make way for the new $1 million Olympic-style track that will be used by Ben Lippen and Columbia International University athletes. 

The new surface will be an eight-lane Mondotrack, a leading innovation in track and field surfacing. Mondotrack is known world-wide for enhanced performance and decreasing the chance of injury. Mondotracks are also unique for their durability and multicolored lanes and runways.

The new surface will make Ben Lippen the only SCISA school with a Mondotrack, and CIU among the few South Carolina colleges with one.

Because the track encircles the Ben Lippen football field, work crews have braved the summer heat moving bleachers, repositioning lighting, redirecting drainage pipes, and bringing in heavy machinery that grinds the old track surface and chucks the pieces into dump trucks.

CIU Track and Field Coach Jud Brooker says the schedule calls for the new Mondo surface to be delivered in early to mid-July with CIU and Ben Lippen celebrating a Mondotrack dedication in late August.   

Other summer improvements taking place include extensive renovations to the Fisher Classroom Building and Shortess Chapel. Final touches are being made to the CIU women’s softball field, while the Administration Building and Student Center also undergo enhancements. Work is also just beginning on the $20 million William H. Jones Global Business and IT Center.

Find out what the excitement and growth is all about. Information on CIU enrollment is available here or call (800) 777-2227, ext. 5024. Get more information on enrolling in Ben Lippen School at www.benlippen.com, or call (803) 807-4000.