Shaw to install synthetic field at Mass. college

 

A new Shaw Sports Turf field is being installed at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. The school has about 1,600 students, with 21 men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports teams at the Division III level, 15 club sports and intramural programs.

“Being in the Northeast, having a synthetic turf field has been a major need for a long time,” said John Sutyak, Wheaton College’s athletic director. “Inclement weather is no longer a problem and It allows our teams to get outside earlier in the year, especially in the winter months.”

Sutyak also said that from a competitive standpoint, the field is needed because Wheaton is one of the only schools left without a synthetic surface for field hockey in the Northeast. Making the critical decision dates back to 2011, when the President’s Athletic Review Committee at the school determined the necessity of a synthetic turf field.

Shaw Sports Turf’s Legion 46 product features a combination of monofilament fiber and durable slit film fiber that results in a natural looking surface for collegiate football fields. The Legion system is engineered with 2.25-inch fibers with a 1.65-inch infill that is a 50-50 mix of sand and rubber.

Turf installation at the Diane C. Nordin ’80 Turf Field is expected to be completed by August 1, 2014.