MONROE, La. – ULM's Groseclose Track at Brown Stadium will serve as the host site for the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, as announced by the conference Thursday.
The 2024 SBC Outdoor Track & Field Championships are scheduled for May 9-11, 2024, in Monroe. It is the first time that Groseclose Track at Brown Stadium will serve as the host site for the SBC Championships.
"For the first time in program history, ULM is excited to host the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2024," ULM Director of Athletics John Hartwell said. "This will be an exciting opportunity for our community and all of northeast Louisiana to see many elite track and field student-athletes from all 14 SBC member institutions perform at Groseclose Track. Brown Stadium is a historic venue and I'm sure the environment will be electric for the Championships."
"We are thrilled to bring the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships to ULM for the first time in 2024," said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill. "Following the recent investments in renovations at Groseclose Track, we anticipate a premier student-athlete experience and a thrilling championship environment in a sport that produced the conference's most recent national champion in 2022."
Brown Stadium previously hosted the Southland Conference outdoor championships in 1985 and 1993.
The facility underwent a $5 million renovation, starting in 2017, which included the construction of Groseclose Track. The Rekortan M99 Synthetic Surface System was installed by Geo-Surfaces. The Rekortan M99, an International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) approved system, is a 15mm, impermeable, full-pour system, with three specialized layers. The renovation also included the installation of a 20x12-foot Daktronics LED scoreboard, new locker rooms and offices for ULM women's and men's track & field teams and soccer program, and new weight and training rooms.
The Monroe/West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau made a very sizable and generous contribution to the Groseclose Track/Brown Stadium renovation project.
Originally erected as a Works Progress Administration project for $45,000 in 1938, Brown Stadium stood across the bayou as home to the football team for nearly three decades. As the campus expanded, the university relocated the steel-frame structure to its current location in 1967.
The football program continued to utilize Brown until Malone Stadium opened in 1978. The men's and women's track teams have called the facility home for over 50 years.
