May 6, 2007

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Siena College President Fr. Kevin Mackin and Director of Athletics John D'Argenio hosted a blessing ceremony this afternoon for the college's new artificial turf field. The entire Siena community was invited to join together as the state-of-the-art facility was blessed prior to the intramural flag football championship game. The multi-use, all-weather field is the newest addition to campus and will be used as a venue for lacrosse, field hockey and soccer, as well as numerous intramural sports.

"During his tenure, Fr. Kevin has championed many varsity athletics projects, but he has also championed our intramural initiatives," D'Argenio explained. "Over 1,200 students participate in intramurals in a given year, which is a great percentage of our student body. We wanted to bless the field today to illustrate our commitment to making this wonderful new turf field available for all Siena students."

The school broke ground on the project just prior to the start of the academic year and was available for the Siena community to use in early December. Thus far, the field has played host to intramural competition, as well as varsity athletic contests and practice.

The facility includes seating for 1,000, as well as a press box, scoreboard, box office and terrace area. The artificial surface is FieldTurf's monofilament product, which is the latest generation of turf surfaces.