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Athletic Initiative

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Shellenberger Field Camera
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Shellenberger Dedication Video
Shellenberger Field Dedication Video

We would be honored to place your name on a stadium seat or brick in the newly renovated Shellenberger Field. This project is truly a dream come true for all Lynchburg College students, athletes, and fans, complete with a new, lighted turf field, an expanded track, a press pavilion and plaza, and more (see details below).

Gift Naming Opportunities – Stadium Seats, Bricks, and More

Plaque with donor's names

Your name, or the name of someone special to you, can become a permanent feature of Shellenberger Field.

Here are just some of the gift possibilities, to be engraved with a name of your choice:

Stadium seat: $500 per year over 3 years = $1,500
Plaza brick (8”x 8”): $250 per year over 3 years = $750
Standard brick (4”x 8”): $167 per year over 3 years = $500

All pledge commitments can be fulfilled over three years in annual or monthly installments.

Additional naming opportunities are available. For more information, call the Lynchburg College Office of Advancement at 434/544-8290.

 

Join The Hornet Club!

Members of The Hornet Club provide vital unrestricted support for all LC athletic programs.

When you make a gift towards this fund before June 30, you will become a member of The Hornet Club for the current academic year, and you'll receive a special member decal for your car window.

Learn more and join today!

Educating Body, Mind, and Spirit

Lynchburg College is growing, and LC students are growing — not just in numbers but academically, spiritually, socially, and in leadership skills. Today, 75 percent of our students participate in fitness and wellness activities, including varsity sports, club sports, and intramurals.

Lynchburg College is affirming its commitment to the importance of outstanding facilities and opportunities for student athletes, as well as for the entire student body. The College recognizes the importance of these commitments to athletic excellence, leadership, participation, retention, and fun.

Shellenberger Field

The renovation of Shellenberger Field allows Lynchburg College to:

  • Provide our athletes the home field advantage.The field has been increased to 120 x 70 yards, thus meeting NCAA guidelines.
  • Sustain year-round play for five varsity sports, thanks to a synthetic turf. Lines for soccer, field hockey, and men’s and women’s lacrosse are permanently stitched into the field.
  • Increase the track from six lanes to eight so LC can host NCAA track meets, as well as regional and state track meets at the high school level.
  • Increase recreational opportunities for all Lynchburg College students, thanks to new field lighting.
  • Add a 500-seat grandstand, which includes 100 stadium seats, an open-air press pavilion and a plaza.

 

View of Shellenberger Field

Shellenberger Field Dedication, April 21, 2007.



Other improvements include the addition of a new brick column and perimeter fence, upgraded grandstand seating, and a new multi-purpose press pavilion and plaza that doubles as a reception area. A scoreboard has also been constructed, and a sound system is in the plans.

The field is named for longtime Lynchburg College soccer coach Bill Shellenberger, who was once touted as "the winningest soccer coach in America," leading his beloved Hornets to thirty-one consecutive winning seasons. Coach Shellenberger proudly attended the dedication.

Closeup of track

400-meter track

  • An 8-lane track around Shellenberger Field with an 8-lane sprint chute (115-foot radius).
  • Full “D” Zones (high jump, long/ triple jump, and pole vault).
  • Steeplechase at the south end of the field.
  • Track naming opportunities are still available.

The new track is now complete.

 

Moon Field

Moon Field (softball) improvements include accommodations for the javelin, discus, and hammer events, batting cage, scoreboard, and a permanent outfield fence.

Fox Field

Fox Field (baseball) donors have contributed more than $15,000 toward their $100,000 goal to construct a press box and restrooms. Gifts are still being sought for Fox Field renovations.

Naming opportunities at Moon and Fox Fields are still available. To support these ongoing projects, please contact the LC Development Office.

Athletic Campaign Highlights

Shellenberger Field Dedication

Shellenberger Field was dedicated April 21 at the halftime of a men’s lacrosse game against rival Hampden-Sydney College. The full day of festivities included two lacrosse games and a talk by LC alumna Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon forty years ago. Approximately 2,000 spectators were on hand to cheer on the Hornets.

At right: Jack Toms '69, LC Director of Athletics; Coach Shellenberger; Kathrine Switzer '68; at the dedication.

Hornet statue

Fighting Hornet Dedicated

The "Fighting Hornet" statue was dedicated April 21. The nearly 10-foot bronze statue, which weighs 1,000 pounds and has a 10-foot wingspan, stands on an 8-foot-high base. The hornet is a gift from Sen. Irwin Belk of North Carolina, and was sculpted by Jon Hair of Cornelius, N.C., the most highly commissioned monumental sculptor in the United States. Hair has more than twenty major public art commissions in the last five years alone. His sculptures appear in galleries, in private collections, and on a growing number of corporate and college campuses.

$100,000 Challenge Goal

In 2006, a former Lynchburg College soccer player delivered a $100,000 check to fulfill a $1 to $3 challenge made in 2005. Supporters of the athletic initiative responded to the anonymous challenge by giving over $300,000 in gifts and pledges. Thanks to all who made this challenge a success! Our athletic initiative is still under way -- you can make a gift today!

LC Student Government Association Supports Athletic Initiative

In 2006, the Lynchburg College Student Government Association unanimously voted to support the athletic initiative by giving $50,000to the project. The SGA worked diligently to collect unused funds for the project. At right, SGA President Dave Lanza '06 presents a check to President Garren.
Kenneth Garren, Andrew Larsen, Bill Shellenberger, Skipper Holt III and Topper Franke

Athletic Campaign Kickoff

Standing on the old field in 2005, from left: Lynchburg College President Kenneth Garren, Board Chair Andrew Larsen, Coach Bill Shellenberger (Honorary Chair of Campaign Phase II) with Campaign Co-Chairs and Trustees Yuille "Skipper" Holt III '67 and W. R. "Topper" Franke '64. The Board of Trustees approved an initial fundraising goal of $2 million toward athletic improvements.