Marshall University - Chief Justice Yearbook (Huntington, WV)

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Field commander Leo Ruth directs the band during halflimc at Fairfield Stadium. Punter Todd Fugate kicks a punt during a 42-7 win over Virginia Military Institute. The new stadium turf featured Marshall's logo on the 50-yard-line. BAG 12 Student l ife

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fop Left: Many students liked to sit at the Memorial Fountain and |ust unwind like Sarah lustice. Williamson sophomore. Bottom Left: Talking to friends at Harris Riverfront Park was a popular pastime, especially for Eric Douglas. Cross lanes junior, and Gina Collias. Sistersvllle sophomore. Top Right: As the leaves fell, students like Leo Ruth, South Charleston senior, invested in shaker-knit sweaters to keep warm. Bottom Right: The picture of success was Sue Shrout. Parsons senior, as she sat in a new red sportscar. Student Life 11

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While the new turf was being installed, the football team was forced to move its preseason practices to the track field on Marshall's campus. SporTec International employees work to install the end zone section of the stadium turf. Relief for MU Teams Turf goes down George Chaump's football team as well as Jack DeFazio's soccer team welcomed the new athletic year with a new $550,000 surface at Fairfield Stadium. The Board of Regents, after some deliberation, agreed to Gov. Arch A. Moore's request that the stadium's nme-year-old SuperTurf lie replaced. Marshall's part of the bill was only $150,000 and the BOK paid the rest. Mead football coach George Chaump said he felt the old turf was not very flexible and caused problems for the team. last season. I think the old turf played an important factor in injuries, the coach said. One such iniury was that of placekkker |ohn Mitchell, Because the old turf was not very flexible, often players were injured when practicing or during a game. Bones were strained because the turf should have been more flexible. Coach Chaump. however, felt the new turf took care of this problem. He said that the number of injuries had dramatically decreased since the 1986 season. As for the players, they agreed that the new turf was much better than the old one. The new stadium turf is probably the best surface I've ever played on or will ever encounter, said left Wood Watseka, III. junior who was red-shined from the position of full-back during the '87 season. The new OmniTurf, which was installed by SporTec International, featured a silica-sand mixture worked into a three-fourths of an inch fiber at the rate of four and a half pounds per square foot. Coach Chaump described the turf as unique, but good. The first game played on the turf was a high school game on Sept. 4. The Thundering Herd made its debut the next day in a 29-0 win over Morehead State Despite constant rain, standing water was not a problem during the game, as it was in the '86 season. Players did have to contend with flying sand during the first game. By the next home game, a 38-13 victory over Youngstown State September 26, the sand had settled and the players were able to enjoy the new surface. The OmniTurf is the third artificial surface installed at Fairfield Stadium since 1970, when Astro-Turf replaced grass. Superturf replaced the original surface in 1978 Student Life 13