Morrisville State athletics photo

Morrisville State will take the field this fall playing on a new and bold color. The Mustangs, for whom green is a school color, have gone about as far away from green as possible.

Drake Field now has black turf.

“As we set out to replace our old turf, we wanted to move in a bold, new direction that would give our department and student-athletes a unique identity to rally around,” Morrisville athletic director Matt Grawrock said.

“We wanted a look that reflected the institution and how we have a special campus with an education and opportunities that are different from many schools, embracing the differences that set us apart while providing a focal point for athletics that would distinguish us from our peers.”

Although Morrisville has played home night games in the past, all four home games for the Mustangs this season start at noon or 1 p.m., in the heat of the day. And now, those games will be played on black turf. As far as the heat issue goes, the department provided the following response to D3sports.com's question: "In all cases our athletic training staff follows, and will continue to follow, a heat policy that was developed from the NATA best practices document and adjustments are made as needed by monitoring the universal wet bulb globe temperature."

The new design features white traditional markings for football. The red markings are for men’s lacrosse, powder blue for women’s lacrosse, lime green for soccer, and yellow for field hockey. The surface is from Field Turf.

To showcase the Mustangs' history, the field showcases lettering along the home sideline of Drake Field, named after Wall of Fame member Robert Drake, who served as Morrisville’s athletic director as well as football, basketball and baseball coach from 1948 to 1978.

With the overall discussion and design beginning in the early months of 2022, the physical process of replacing the old turf surface began in mid-May and was completed in early July, and also features facility upgrades within the stadium’s locker room spaces, as well as new uprights and fencing that will showcase the department branding.

“This has been a long process, and many people have been engaged to make this a reality,” said Grawrock.

“There are a number of people and groups we are indebted to for the hard work and dedication they have shown to finalizing this project. First, both Randy Krytusa and Chris Maroney have been tremendous advocates for us with a number of constituencies. They guided this project along and always had a listening ear when we sought adjustments or edits. They were tireless in making this happen and we are so fortunate that they have been the big part of the project that they were.

“Second, the various external groups that made this possible cannot be overlooked. We're incredibly grateful for PHZ Architects who mapped out our vision and gave us the look for the new field. They embraced our goal to be different and shared our enthusiasm for a field like no other. Tim Bonaparte, from Appel Osborne Landscape and Architecture, was critical as we looked at our fencing and other elements of the field including the drawings, alongside Lysander Construction with the installation of the fencing. Finally, Chenango Contracting was phenomenal in the work they put in to install the turf.

“Many people may ask why we've put a black field out there,” Grawrock said.

“We've asked, why not? We have created a true home-field experience and advantage for our student-athletes. We think they're one-of-a-kind and we wanted to give them a home venue to match.”