MIAMI (March 14, 2014) – With $1 million raised to-date, the FIU Athletic Department has begun a $2 million campaign to enhance facilities for six of the school's women's sports programs.
"We are committed to all of our sports programs here at FIU," FIU Executive Director of Sports and Entertainment
Pete Garcia said. "As our women's sports continue to grow and be more successful, it's important to make sure that they have the best possible resources to compete at a championship level. It's an exciting time here at FIU. We are seeing our teams achieve great accomplishments. A lot of these improvements are a result of those accomplishments. We still have work to do to make sure we give our student-athletes and coaches the necessary facilities they deserve."
Softball, golf, track & field, sand volleyball, tennis and swimming & diving will all be impacted by this campaign.
Already reaping the benefits of the campaign is the softball program which recently had its stadium renovated. The stadium saw an array of changes over the past few months, including the addition of stadium-style seating behind home plate. The stadium extends towards the first and third base dugouts with bleachers rounding out the 300-seat venue. Most notably, the press box has been moved directly behind home plate on the ground level, while the concourse underneath hosts a concession stand by third base, and standing room access near the first base side in the fully enclosed venue.
The softball team is off to one of the program's best starts, going 19-8 through 27 games, including wins over No. 19 Minnesota, BIG EAST power DePaul and ACC foe Maryland.
"The upgrade in our stadium-style seating that we received this season and the upgrade to a new locker room and team room facility we will be getting are great signs that our program is on the rise," FIU Softball Head Coach
Jake Schumann said. "The new facilities put us on par with the rest of our competition in C-USA and will be not only an outstanding place to watch a ball game, but a jewel in recruiting to allure top talent to South Florida."
Construction on a new softball/women's golf building will be part of the new campaign. The building will house locker rooms for the golf and softball programs as well as a student-athlete lounge. The construction of a short-game practice area for the women's golf team will take place, including a putting green and pitching area.
The women's golf program is having a solid season as the Panthers heads into its final two tournaments before the team's inaugural Conference USA Tournament (April 21-23). The Panthers have had seven top-10 finishes, including a school-record, 8-under, 208, by freshman Camila Serrano, who earned her first collegiate tournament victory, winning the Amelia Island Collegiate.
Track & field will have a new area created for the throws team, including a hammer and discus cage and a shot put circle.
The FIU track & field team had a strong debut in the Conference USA Indoor Championship (Feb. 28 – March 1), highlighted by Miriam Pierre taking second in the women's weight throw with a mark of 18.73 meters. That mark also places her second all-time in the FIU record books.
Sand volleyball and tennis will each get newly-renovated locker rooms.
"The commitment the athletic department has towards our team and other women's sports is tremendous," Head Coach
Katarina Petrovic said. "We are building something special here with the FIU women's tennis program. This campaign not only shows our current student-athletes, but future Panthers that the dedication is there. A championship culture is being created here and the support we receive is vital in making sure that our goals are reached."
The women's tennis team has begun the 2014 campaign with a 5-3 mark, having won three of the team's last four outings. The Panthers are led by senior Giulietta Boha, who has won 13-straight singles matches and is a perfect 8-0 in dual matches.
Sand volleyball began its second year with a 6-2 record and ranking of No. 9 in the nation. The Panthers have picked up wins over ULM, South Carolina, Jacksonville and Georgia State.
The swimming & diving program will have a new scoreboard erected at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center to enhance the team's ability to host meets and competitions.
Head Coach
Randy Horner has the Panthers positioned as one of the top teams in C-USA. Junior Johanna Gustafsdottir and senior Sabrina Beaupre each won individual titles for the Panthers, who were runner-up finishers in this year's C-USA Championships to Rice. Beaupre won Diver of the Meet while her diving coach,
Rio Ramirez, won the conference's Diving Coach of the Year Award.
"We are finalizing our committee and are excited about the campaign," FIU Assistant AD for Development
Chris Bultinck said. "We need the support of every FIU fan, the community, and our faculty and staff to reach this ambitious, yet achievable goal."
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
