FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Courtesy of SJC Communications

STANDISH, Maine - Saint Joseph's College will celebrate the completion of its $5 million lighted turf and track athletics complex with a ceremony on Monday, September 18, 2017 at 4:30 p.m. on Westerlea Way on the Sebago Lake campus in Standish. The complex, construction for which began in the fall of 2016, includes an artificial turf-surfaced and lighted field, an eight-lane track, and on-site parking. Members of the Board of Trustees, President James Dlugos and the Leadership Team, donors, parents, alumni, coaches, students, and staff will all gather on the field to mark this milestone for the College and cheer on the women's soccer team whose competition with the University of Southern Maine will commence under the lights at 6:00 p.m.

In addition to serving as the home venue for the College's NCAA Division III Monks teams–especially the soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse programs–the site will significantly bolster southern Maine's available athletics facilities, becoming the first lighted turf/track college venue in southern Maine.

President James Dlugos, Ph.D. said, "We are proud that this facility will serve not only our student-athletes, but also the College recreation programs that engage the Lakes Region community and other outside groups from all over New England."

"This facility falls perfectly in line with our College's core values of Excellence and Community," said Saint Joseph's Athletics Director Brian Curtin. "It also fulfills our athletic department's principle of striving to provide the highest quality student-athlete experience possible."

A broad base of support has rallied around the project. The College's Board of Trustees voted to provide seed money to kick off the project and a number of generous individual and corporate donors have offered support, including: Dead River Company, Cross Insurance, OA Centers for Orthopaedics-Spectrum Healthcare Partners, Prime Time Sports, Norway Savings Bank, the Dick Bailey Family, parents of Saint Joseph's students, and alumni.

Additionally, a Light the Way Challenge was proposed by the Putnam Family who very generously agreed to match 1:1 the dollars raised by Monks supporters toward the lights. The lights honor Saint Joseph's College student-life and student-athlete advocate Dick Bailey who has served as Dean of Students and the Softball Coach, and currently works as Co-Head Softball Coach. These lights enable the College to extend the hours of play, host tournament competitions, and recruit more scholar-athletes. Many generous gifts from alumni, staff, faculty, and parents reached and surpassed the challenge's goal to fund the lights.

The athletics campaign will now continue into its second phase, striving for additional strategic goals for the DIII program. The second phase is expected to extend until 2021.

For more information about giving, please contact Director of Athletics Brian Curtin. For more information, media, and updates, please see: www.gomonks.com.