MANKATO — One of Division II’s top track and field programs is about to get a big boost.
Dubbed “The Future State”, this privately-funded project announced in September 2025, will create a new 6,500 seat multi-purpose sporting venue that will host multiple MSU sports. MSU football will be one of the benefactors of the project, which is set to be ready for the 2029 football season.
But football won’t be the only benefactor of this project. The Future State also includes a revamped outdoor track and field facility.
“It’s kind of a game changer for us,” MSU track and field head coach Mike Turgeon said. “Our goal here at Minnesota State is really to kind of be the epicenter of track and field in the state. Having a facility like this is really going to allow us to have larger track meets.”
One of the goals for the program is for Mankato to be the host city for the Division II championships. The Mavericks not only want to host the best in the nation, but be one of the best in the nation.
Turgeon said that when it comes to recruiting the Mavericks look to find Division I athletes who choose the Division II lifestyle. They’re not necessarily recruiting against other Division II schools, but rather the likes of North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State, North Dakota State and South Dakota State.
“It’s really helping us show that we have a great indoor facility,” Turgeon said. “Now we’re going to have an outdoor facility that’s just as nice, that has the ability to host the Division II national championships.”
Being the epicenter of Minnesota’s track and field scene doesn’t apply solely to the collegiate level.
Turgeon’s goal is to have MSU host Minnesota’s state meet for high school track and field. This new facility gives the Mavericks a fighting chance of making that goal a reality. And with that comes a recruiting and economic boost.
As Turgeon explained, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse hosts Wisconsin’s state meet. The Wisconsin’s visitors bureau in La Crosse discusses the $4 million that they get in economic impact just from the state meet alone.
The difference in size between the Wisconsin and Minnesota state meets? A whopping total of four athletes.
Hosting the state meet, according to Turgeon, will give MSU the chance to host 2,000 competing athletes, another 6,000 students and another 12,000 people in spectators. That’s a total of 8,000 students having the chance to see MSU’s campus.
“We’re really looking at how we can replicate the Wisconsin meet,” Turgeon said. “We’re looking at how we can grow this into a big university event.”