Rector Field House

Multiple sports use the space inside of Rector Field House, but none more so than the Virginia Tech football program and the track and field programs.

The men’s and women’s track and field teams hold their home meets during the indoor season inside of Rector, which serves as the winter home for the track program. The 200-meter, Mondo-surfaced, banked track is one of the few of its kind in the U.S. and was installed and used for the first time during the 1996-97 season.

This track consistently rates as one of the fastest tracks in the country, thus making Rector Field House a destination for some of the top athletes in the world. Many Olympians have competed in Rector Field House in recent years, including 2000 Olympic silver medalist pole vaulter Lawrence Johnson, Olympian distance runner Julie Henner, two-time NCAA champion weight thrower Spyridon Jullien and high school mile record holder Alan Webb.

Among the professional athletes who have competed at Rector were Lacy Janson, a former pole vaulter from Florida State; Deedee Trotter, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 4x400 relay; Hazel Clark, a three-time Olympian in the 800 from the University of Florida; and Garland Porter, a former standout thrower from the University of Tennessee.

Rector Field House has served as the host to several of the East Coast's top invitationals, attracting many of the nation’s best teams. More recently, it has served as the home of the ACC Indoor Championships four times, including three straight years from 2009-2011. Combined with the Johnson-Miller Track Complex adjacent to it, Rector Field House gives Tech two of the finest track complexes in the country.

Though serving primarily as an indoor facility for the track and field program, Rector Field House is also used as a practice facility for football. Tech’s football team practices inside in the fall during inclement weather, as workers take down in the indoor track and store it once the indoor track season ends in March. The athletics department installed a new artificial turf field in 1997 at a cost of $500,000. The original artificial turf was added in 1973.

Construction began on Rector Field House in 1971, and the facility is 71,189 square feet. Various improvements have been made over the years in addition to the new artificial turf, including the addition of a sports medicine area, renovated restroom areas, and a new lighting system.

DIRECTIONS | Rector Field House

230 Beamer Way
Blacksburg, Va. 24061

From the north or east
Take Interstate 81 south to exit 118B, following US 460 west to Blacksburg.
From the south
Take Interstate 81 north to exit 118B, following US 460 west to Blacksburg.
From West Virginia
Take Interstate 77 south (West Virginia Turnpike) to exit 9. Exit and turn left onto 460 east. Follow 460 east to Blacksburg.
Once in Blacksburg
Use the 460 bypass around the downtown area. Follow 460 bypass to Exit 6 Southgate Drive (Va. 314). Take the second exit at the first roundabout to stay on Southgate Drive. At the second roundabout, take the first exit to stay on Southgate Drive. At the traffic signal, turn left onto Beamer Way. Rector Field House will be on the left behind Tech Softball Park.