Ray Conn Sports Complex

The Ray Conn Sports Complex, which opened in the spring of 2021, is home to the Lee men's and women's soccer, track & field and women’s lacrosse teams.

During the long, strange summer and fall of 2020, a massive new student sports facility took shape on the north end of the Lee campus. The multi-sports complex was originally envisioned as a home venue for Lee’s track and field teams, which have been highly successful over the last few years, despite the lack of a home facility for practice and competition.

The main feature of the complex is the track itself. The oval meets the standard to be certified by the NCAA, so that records which might be set at the venue will qualify for recognition at the Olympic level. The track is an eight-lane oval for sprints, hurdles, and distance events. The events of high jump, pole vault, and steeplechase will also occur inside the oval. The location of field events (shot put, discus, javelin, and hammer throw), as well as the long jump and triple jump, is outside the oval.

The university considered multiple bids for the track surface itself, finally contracting with Beynon, a national company which installs certified tracks at some of the largest universities in the country. The result is a three-layer poured-rubber surface that required over a month for installation.
Inside the oval lies an athletic field large enough to accommodate NCAA events in soccer, lacrosse, or football. As Lee officials made the decision to move from a bare-bones track and field venue to a comprehensive athletic site, it became clear that the installation of synthetic turf would significantly increase the usefulness of the field. Natural grass fields are the primary venues for soccer and lacrosse, but the number of “lost days” due to bad weather and wet playing fields is a major problem for Lee’s fall and spring sports programs.

The addition of a synthetic turf field somewhere on campus has been a dream for years, and it has now been added in the new facility. As with the track surface, Lee decided to go “top of the line” with a superior product. The chosen surface is the same turf which is used in several NFL and NCAA D1 fields, including Mercedes Benz Stadium and Gillette Stadium, home to the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots, respectively. The vendor/installer was FieldTurf, who installed the field with permanent markings for soccer and lacrosse.

In addition to the primary field and track, the new facility includes a million-dollar multi-sports complex and plaza with locker rooms, coaches offices, restrooms, concessions area for the general public, and a 110-car parking lot.