Denison has been committed to providing some of the most outstanding athletics and recreational facilities of any Division III College in the country. With the opening of the spacious Mitchell Recreation and Athletics Center in the fall of 1994, Denison now boasts two large field houses to go along with its gymnasium, natatorium, olympic-size all-weather outdoor track and its various outdoor competition and practice fields and courts.
The new Mitchell Center houses a 200-meter track of Mondo Rubber which can accommodate large track and field meets and varsity tennis matches, and is suitable for indoor practice for field hockey, football, lacrosse and soccer. The center is also the home of a large, state-of-the-art fitness room and and and expansive strength room, as well as several other recreation and fitness features. The $7.3 million structure complements the original Physical Education Center, a structure which was built in 1949 and includes Alumni Memorial Field House which remains as a recreational-use facility with hardwood floors for basketball and volleyball, and a rubberized jogging track.
Livingston Gymnasium, home of the Big Red basketball and volleyball teams, features a recently refinished hardwood floor and holds 3,500 fans. It is equipped with scoreboards, game clocks and public address components. Also included within the Physical Education Center is Gregory Natatorium, which features a six-lane, 25-yard pool, an automated electronic timing system and gallery seating for more than 800 people.
The 2003 football season will marked the 81st anniversary of Denison University's Deeds Field. The field was rededicated in 1997 when the Deeds family's contributions were recognized and former Big Red football players Andrew Deeds '54 and U.S. Congressman Tony Hall '64 led a ceremony which named Piper Stadium for legendary single wing coach Keith Piper, who coached at Denison for 42 years from 1951 through 1992. The facility, one of the finest in Division III, was extensively renovated in 1981 with the installation of a new prescription playing surface and new stands. In 1989, a state-of-the-art, olympic-size, all-weather polytan track was installed around the playing field.
The field is named for Col. Edward Deeds, Class of 1897, and his son, Charles W. Deeds, Class of 1923. The facility was built on land given to the University by Col. Deeds in 1917. After the original field was dedicated in 1922, the Colonel financed the construction of the additional stands and locker facilities. With its renovations, the stadium currently seats more than 5,000 spectators. An interesting note, during halftime of the game during which the original Deeds Field dedication took place in 1922, the cornerstone of campus landmark Swasey Chapel was laid up on College Hill.
Charles Deeds worked with his father as a trustee of Denison University for 13 years, and continued to serve for another 17 years after his father retired from the Board. Charles was the chairman of Denison's Board of Trustees for a total of 10 years, and he continued to serve the University as a life trustee until his death in 1993.
Coach Piper, who died in December of 1997 at the age of 76, joined the Denison faculty as an assistant football coach in 1951. Three years later he was named the Big Red's 17th head coach and went on to collect 200 career victories. This landmark placed him in exclusive company as one of only 18 coaches in the history of college football to win 200 games at the same institution. Piper, a member of the Varsity D Hall of Fame, completed his career at Denison in 1992 as the second winningest college football coach in the state of Ohio. He guided his team to 10-0 and 9-1 seasons in 1985 and 1986, earning back-to-back North Coast Athletic Conference championship titles, and NCAC Coach of the Year honors.
Just a short distance from the stadium is the newly renovated and lighted Barclay-Thomsen Field for soccer and lacrosse. This beautiful venue is named for long-time varsity coaches Ted Barclay and Ferris "Tommy" Thomsen.
Barclay, head men's soccer coach for 25 years and four years as women's soccer mentor, has also served as men's swimming coach for 17 years, head golf coach since 1991 and director of men's athletics for 12 years during his Denison career. He is one of a select few coaches who have won more than 300 collegiate soccer games. Barclay is in his final season as head coach of Denison's varsity golf team.
Thomsen, who spent 25 years as a lacrosse coach and six years as wrestling coach, retired in 1990. Following his arrival at Denison in 1965, his lacrosse teams won the championship of the Midwest Lacrosse Association from 1967 through 1973 and again in the early 1980s (1980, '81, '82 and '84). Thomsen also won championships in the North Coast Athletic Conference in 1985 and '86. At retirement, he was one of only three coaches in the United States with more than 200 victories.
Between the two coaches, Denison student-athletes have earned some 40 All-American honors, numerous all-conference titles and four NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Awards since 1960.
New fields were also recently installed for the Denison baseball and softball programs, both of which are thriving at or near the top of the conference's standings year in and year out. Several intramural and practice fields have also been added.
An impressive complex of 12 newly resurfaced tennis courts serves as the outdoor home for the DU varsity tennis squads as well as recreational players. Denison is often chosen to host conference and regional tennis tournaments, given its combination of exceptional indoor and outdoor tennis facilities.
The Big Red golf team practices and plays at the nationally recognized Granville Golf Course, which is located less than a half-mile from campus, and the cross country teams compete in the Denison Biological Reserve, a 250-acre nature preserve located adjacent to campus.
In recent years, Denison has also seen fit to add facilities for even more recreational activities such as platform tennis and sand volleyball.
