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Facilities

Bauernfeind Recreation and Wellness Center

The Student Recreation and Wellness Center offers the University community, as well as alumni and family members, recreational and educational opportunities that teach the values of wellness. This facility contributes to the quality of MSU experience, enhances personal development, and provides opportunities for cultural and social interaction.

The Susan E. Bauernfeind Recreation and Wellness Center is a 73,000 square foot facility paid for by student fees. The center includes: 3 full size basketball courts; aerobics studio with hardwood floors, mirrors, ballet bar and sound system; free weights, selectorized machines and cardio workout equipment featuring treadmills, elliptical trainers, cross trainers, bikes, steppers and rowing machines; swimming pool, whirlpool, vortex and water bench; 2 racquetball courts; cafe and lounge, 1/11 mile walking/jogging track, men's and women's locker rooms and multipurpose room available for meetings, classes and workout sessions.

CFSB Center

The 8,602-seat facility is a state-of-the-art, mutifunctional arena capable of hosting concerts, trade shows and other sporting events in addition to Racer and Lady Racer basketball.

The CFSB Center features approximately 2,100 chairback seats on the lower level with the rest of the arena having bleacher seats. Up above, a $250,000 scoreboard hangs over the retractable wood floor, and is flanked on four corners by lower-level auxiliary boards. Underneath, the specially-painted wooden game floor sits on a tartan rubber surface which will allow other events. In all, there are nine full-length basketball courts in the CFSB Center.

The MSU men's basketball team played the first game in the CFSB Center on Nov. 14, 1998 and gained an exciting 65-62 win over regional rival Southern Illinois in front of 7,633 fans.

Murray State's locker room facilities, which includes a dressing area, lounge and kitchen area, is top-notch in every aspect. Roomy and modern, it also features theatre seating for when the team reviews film. The locker area is ideal for preparing for games and practices or just relaxing.

Racer players get bigger, faster and stronger in this state of the art, 3,000-square foot weight room in the CFSB Center. The room features free weights, machines and treadmills, and is exclusively used by MSU basketball.

Cutchin Field

Once the home facility for Murray State football, Cutchin Field is now the home field for Murray State soccer. Located behind the Curris Center and across the street from Racer Arena, Cutchin Field has undergone many changes.

The facility was expanded to a 72-by-114-yard playing field and was resurfaced with Bermuda grass. A sprinkler system has also been installed as part of the field's makeover. A state-of-the-art scoreboard complements the facility at the northwest corner of the field.

Player shelters like that seen at the professional and world championship level of play are in place at both benches and the scorer's table. Landscaping has been added to make the field more attractive, with foster holly and Hicks yew trees encircling the field. Future plans call for tiered seating on the hill on the east side of the field.

The field is named for multi-sport coach Carlisle Cutchin, who was Murray State’s second football coach (1925-30), earning a record of 37-11-4 (.722); the first men’s basketball coach (1925-41), leading MSU to a 256-91 (.738) record, never losing more than nine games in a single season; and MSU’s first baseball coach (1928-32, 1941, 1946-53), taking the ’Breds to a 98-106-3 (.481) record over 14 seasons.

All totaled, Cutchin had a combined record of 391-208-7 (.651) in 36 seasons as a head coach in three sports.

Cutchin was inducted into the Murray State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1970, the first coach to earn the honor.

Cutchin Field has a long-standing and successful sports history, dating almost to the founding of Murray State itself. After a 30-year hiatus from varsity sports, its tradition continues as the setting for Racer soccer.

Ledbetter Bay

The Murray State rowing squad utilizes three facilities.

The team’s “Erg Room” is located in Stewart Stadium, a five-minute walk from the campus residence halls. Student-athletes currently use 18 Concept-II Ergometers but plans are in place to add an additional six “ergs” by the winter of 2006, brining the room total to 24 machines.

In addition, the room has an area for stretching and doing core-strength training, a changing room and a video review area. The space is convenient to the athletic training room located one flight below where student-athletes can seek treatment immediately before or after practice.

The Murray State University Boathouse at Kentucky Lake State Park was completed in 2005. The boathouse offers a stretching area, restrooms and an office. It provides storage for the Racers’ fleet of racing shells that include eights, fours, pairs and singles.

Kentucky Lake is the home of Murray State rowing. It offers the Racers access to 2,000 meters of protected rowing in Ledbetter Bay and over 10 miles of rowing throughout the lake.

Marshall Gage Track

Without question, Murray State's track facilities are some of the finest in the nation, and the most outstanding in the region.

The centerpiece of the track and field facilities is the nine-lane state-of-the-art running surface. Originally built in 1973 as part of the Roy Stewart Stadium construction project, the track was initially surfaced with a Rekortan running surface used in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. It was resurfaced in the mid-1980's for a cost of $300,000.

MSU alum Marshall Gage was the primary donor and fundraiser for the resurfacing project, which eventually received his name. Gage ran for the Racers from 1957-61 as a sprinter and hurdler. Gage was the only runner in the 1959 Ohio Valley Conference championships to win three events, placing first in the 100-yard dash, 120-yard high hurdles and 220-yard low hurdles. Gage was inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 1965 and was also a 1995 Golden Horseshoe Award recipient.

In addition to the nine-lane track, the MSU track and field facilities include spacious, modern locker rooms for men and women, and a well-equipped weight room and training room.

Located inside the stadium are: two long jump pits, a high jump area, a pole vault pit and a shot put area. Discus, javelin and hammer throw facilities are situated just outside the stadium but within the athletic complex.

Miller Memorial Golf Course

Frances E. Miller Memorial Golf Course presents a unique challenge for competitive and recreational golfers alike.

The home of the Racer golf programs since 1983, Miller Memorial has been named one of the 130 best layouts in the United States by USA Today.

Measuring 6,592 yards from the championship tees, the par-71 layout has two distinct nines which require a wide array of shot-making. The outward nine is set on hilly terrain and requires pinpoint accuracy from tee to green, while the inward half rewards length and accurate long iron play.

The longest hole, the par-5 17th, is 535 yards long, and the shortest hole on the course is the par-3 16th, measuring 171 yards.

Miller Memorial was the host of the 1987 Ohio Valley Conference men's championship and the 1995 and 1999 OVC women's championships. It has also hosted various other tournaments, including the 1989 Junior KGA/PGA Championships.

The beautiful tract of land for the course was donated by L.D. Miller, a 1937 graduate of Murray State. The course is named for his late wife, under the provision that the lead be used for a golf course primarily for MSU students, faculty and staff.

Spurgin Rifle Range

Located in Room 230 on the north side of Roy Stewart Stadium, the Pat Spurgin Rifle Range is considered one of the finest shooting venues in America.

With adjustable targets and electric carriers, the permanent range features a roomy 16 shooting points. The range also houses an arms room and lockers for convenient storage of shooting equipment.

For special matches such as the NCAA Championships, the range can be expanded to allow simultaneous 16-shooter smallbore and air rifle competition. Media and hospitality rooms are located nearby, with match scoring provided by a custom-made computer program that offers competitors timely scoring results.

Named in honor of Pat Spurgin Pitney, an eight-time All-American and gold medalist in the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, the range has served as the host of eight NCAA championships.

Purcell Tennis Courts

Murray State University's men's and women's tennis teams play all matches on the Bennie Purcell Tennis Courts on campus.

With eight lighted and well-maintained hard-courts, the facility is one of the best in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The facility was named in honor of former legendary MSU men's tennis coach Bennie Purcell, the father of current men's head coach Mel Purcell.

The senior Purcell coached tennis at Murray State for 28 seasons, earning 11 Ohio Valley Conference championships along the way. He was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Hall of Fame in 1998.

Purcell came to MSU in 1948 to play basketball, where he became one of the top players in school history. His No. 21 jersey is one of only seven in school history to be retired and it hangs in the rafters of the Regional Special Events Center. He later served as an assistant basketball coach under Cal Luther before taking over the men's tennis program.

Purcell still resides in Murray and remains an avid supporter of Racer athletics.

Racer Arena

Since opening in 1954, Racer Arena has held several distinctions, including nationally-televised men's basketball games, regionally-televised women's basketball games and basketball conference championships and National Invitation Tournament games.

Now, it holds yet another distinction as the nation's second-largest volleyball-only facility among NCAA Division I schools.

In 1998, Murray State's men's and women's basketball teams moved into the Regional Special Events Center, making Racer volleyball the only varsity sport to use the facility for regular-season competition.

With a capcity of 5,500, Racer Arena is the largest volleyball-only facility in the Ohio Valley Conference and second nationally only to Arkansas's Barnhill Arena (9,000).

Racer Arena opened its doors no Dec. 11, 1954, for the men's basketball team's third home game of the season, in which the Racers beat Middle Tennessee State 104-80.

In 1993, the building housing Racer Arena was named Cutchin Fieldhouse in honor of former MSU coach Carlisle Cutchin.

Reagan Field

The first Murray State game played on the new Reagan Field at its current location adjacent to Roy Stewart Stadium and the Regional Special Events Center came on March 11, 1989, when the 'Breds fell to Eastern Illinois 13-11 in the first game of a double-header with the Panthers and Illinois.

Previously located where the current Martha Layne Collins Industry and Technology Building was erected across from the Curris Center, the Murray State baseball field has a history as rich and established as the team itself.

Named for former coach Johnny Reagan - as is his high school field in Bismarck, Mo. - Reagan Field has hosted some of the best NCAA Division I teams in the region.

The baseball facility offers the familiar terrace seating, which was a unique quality of its predecessor. There is also ample parking at the Roy Stewart Stadium parking lot with easy access from U.S. Highway 641 and Ky. Highway 121.

The field features symmetrical dimensions: 330 feet from home plate to the foul poles, 375 feet in the power alleys and 400 feet to straightaway center field, where a 16-foot fence provides a challenge to sluggers.

A modern inning-by-inning scoreboard - a gift to the university from Pepsi Cola Bottling in Paducah, Ky. - is found in left field. A new sound system and backstop was added in the spring of 2006.

Other features of Reagan Field include a climate-controlled press box and spacious dugouts which provide the 'Breds and their visitors a roomy environment from which they can plot game strategy.

A lush grass carpet is the centerpiece of the facility, including a newly resodded outfield which was completed during the off-season last year.

The field opened on March 11, 1989, when Illinois played Eastern Illinois prior to Murray State's game with EIU. Rick Grogan threw the first pitch and, a day later, Willie Wilder hit the first MSU home run on the field.

On March 30, 1989, the field was the site of Johnny Reagan's 700th career coaching victory, a 7-5 win over Lincoln Memorial. The field was officially dedicated on April 15, 1989.

Roy Stewart Stadium

Considered to be one of the finest Division I-AA facilities in the nation, picturesque Roy Stewart Stadium has provided the football Racers spacious, well-tended and modern facilities since it opened in 1973.

The stadium, which features a nine-lane track and an Astroturf field, is named for one of Murray State's great coaches and athletic administrators, Roy Stewart, who guided the MSU football team from 1932 to 1945, compiling a 60-33-11 record.

The Racers moved into the facility in 1973 and logged a 27-25 win over Western Carolina in the first game in the stadium. The stadium was dedicated on Sept. 9, 1974.

The first level of the stadium houses spacious offices and meeting rooms for football and track and field. It also includes the Tom "Doc" Simmons Training Room and one of the finest weight rooms in America, along with expansive dressing rooms for football, men's and women's track and baseball.

The second floor serves as the the primary home for the MSU athletics department with offices for the athletics director, marketing and promotions, media relations, academics, compliance as well as the Weaver Center for Academic Enhancement. The second floor is also home to the offices for baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's golf, rowing, soccer, men's and women's tennis and volleyball.

The Pat Spurgin Rifle Range, home of the three-time NCAA champions and site of several NCAA championships, is located at the northern end of the second floor.

Towering more than 150 feet above the playing surface, a two-tiered press box offers working space for 50 media representatives, with private radio booths and a camera area for film and television.

The seven-floor structure provides optimum seating for 16,800 fans. It serves as the centerpiece to Murray State's centralized athletic facility with addition of the new Regional Special Events Center for MSU basketball and the baseball team's Reagan Field.

Roy Stewart Stadium Weight Room

The state-of-the-art Murray State weight room is located in Roy Stewart Stadium and is headquarters for the Racer Strength and Conditioning Program.

With 6,000-square feet, the Racer weight room is one of the largest and best equipped in the country. This room contains free weights, universal machines, power racks and Olympic platforms.

Constructed in 1973 with the completion of the stadium, it has served Racer athletes for nearly 30 years.

The facility received a major overhaul in 1999 when nearly $100,000 was spent to renovate the room and purchase new equipment.

Simmons Training Room

Murray State University Athletic Training-Sports Medicine currently utilizes three facilities to service 350-400 student-athletes competing in various sports across campus.

The main facility, located in Stewart Stadium is approximately 4675 square feet with a separated wet area. The training room has eight treatment tables, four taping tables, three whirlpools as well as a staff office and a physician’s exam room.

The latest technology in modalities and rehabilitative equipment is utilized to take care of the Racers. All facilities are supervised when in use by certified athletic trainers.

There are also two satellite facilities used by the MSU sports medicine team, one at the Regional Special Events Center and the other at Racer Arena.

Weaver Academic Center

Backing up its commitment to ensure that Racer student-athletes have every opportunity to excel in the classroom as well as on the athletic fields, Murray State athletics has established a state-of-the-art academic center.

Named in honor of two long-time supporters, Jan and Dick Weaver, the Weaver Center for Academic Enhancement is dedicated to enriching the academic careers of Racer student athletes. The Weaver Center was opened on June 30, 1997 with university administration, coaches, athletes and supporters in attendance.

Located on the second floor of Roy Stewart Stadium, the Weaver Center is a spacious facility equipped with individual and group study areas. But the centerpiece of the Weaver Center is its computer lab. Featuring 24 computers, student-athletes use the computers to access the internet for research and complete class projects and papers.

Racer athletes also use the Weaver Center for study hall, which meets four nights a week. During study hall, student-athletes have access to tutors, study groups and computers.

The Weaver Center is open 12 hours per day, six days a week when school is in session.