The Barometer Online

Issue date: 5/12/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Andrew Soltis ANDREW SOLTIS | THE DAILY BAROMETER The Truax Indoor Center serves as the home of many Oregon State sports teams during rain and provides a home for some intramural athletics.

By Stuart Ashenbrenner

The Daily Barometer

Living in Oregon, everyone has encounters with the rain. Luckily for players on the football team, when the rain hits Reser Stadium, they hit the Merritt Truax Indoor Center. This $12 million, 85,000-square-foot facility helps shelter the football, women's and men's soccer, golf, volleyball, baseball and softball programs. The building was officially named during halftime of an Oregon State-Arizona football game on Nov. 17, 2001.

This site was named after Merritt Truax, a 1934 OSU alumnus. He and his wife Aileen founded Merritt Truax Inc., one of the leading gasoline retailers in the country. They own a plethora of other companies, which include tire, investment and energy companies.

"Before the building, [the football team] had all of our practices outside," said Oregon State football head coach Mike Riley. "I was here in 1997, and there was no indoor [facility]. I was talking to President Risser at the time, and told him that if we could get an indoor facility here one day, it would be one of the most widely used buildings here on campus. It'll be open from dawn to past midnight, and it is. Everyone uses it."

The Merritt Truax Indoor Center is an Oregon State monument, built behind Reser Stadium and the Prothro Complex, across from the Valley Football Center and Sports Performance Center. This building houses events nearly every day of the week, events which include indoor practices, special banquets and pregame functions. Altogether, this triangle of athletic buildings helps keep athletes healthy, happy and fit.

"Just about every intercollegiate sport uses it, and it's also used for different events on game day," said Assistant Athletic Director of Athletic Communications Steve Fenk. "We also have intramural sports that play in there."

The building, used by almost every sport from Oregon State, is a popular area for the athletes to practice, but with so many sports, it is amazing how they organize time for all the teams.

"Everyone calls in and schedules their times," Riley said. "We call in advance just like you would have to do for any facility. We have had a run-in with the baseball team, so we just came back outside and let them use it for batting practice. We just work together with each other and work it out. We haven't used it much yet this year. We use it mostly toward the end of the season with daylight savings time. We also use it almost every day once bowl season rolls around."

The Merritt Truax Indoor Center is a great place for all athletes to work out. It has been very helpful for the teams so far, and hopefully it has many more great years to come.



Stuart Ashenbrenner, sports writer

sports@dailybarometer.com

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