The next time fans enter Lied Recreation Athletic Center for a track meet, it will be hard to miss a major addition to the facility.

Last week, the indoor track and field facility featured a new 20 feet wide by 12 feet tall high-definition video board for spectators to enjoy at future meets.

The new addition comes as part of an effort to upgrade the track and field programs all around, which has already included resurfacing the track, upgrades to the men’s and women’s locker rooms and scoring system upgrades.

The budget for the video board was $300,000 to $350,000, which included enhancements to the timing systems and the control room used to operate the board.

“We wanted to improve the spectator experience and student-athlete experience as well,” said Chris Jorgensen, senior associate athletic director for facilities, planning and management.

The board will initially be used for results and team scores, but eventually Jorgensen hopes to include live feed, highlights and pre-game presentations much like how the video boards at Hilton Coliseum and Jack Trice Stadium are used.

From an outside standpoint, this may simply be seen as a cool addition to the facility, but ISU track and field assistant coach Andrea Grove-McDonough views it as part of a major renovation to the entire track and field program.

“I think you have a new staff that’s highly motivated and energized … we’re trying to jazz it up, bring a little rock-and-roll to Lied,” Grove-McDonough said.

The project was completely funded by the athletic department, which has provided a major push in recent years to advance the program.

Iowa State is now the exclusive host of the indoor Big 12 Championship after Texas A&M left the conference.

Many of the recent updates have been to accommodate a meet of that size and of that prestige. Iowa State also has big expectations for the Iowa State Classic.

“Our goal over time is to make that meet one of the premier track meets of the Midwest,” Jorgensen said of the Iowa State Classic.

It is part of a push to make ISU track and field an elite program throughout the country.

“We are trying to be the Oregon of the Midwest,” Grove-McDonough said. “We want to be that high profile, and to do that we have to host meets of that caliber. We have to get the results obviously, but the rest of that is facilities. That’s part of why Eugene [Ore.] is Eugene. It’s TrackTown USA, we want to be TrackTown Midwest.”

While there is more to any program that facilities alone, Grove-McDonough said she has already noticed the impact the upgrades have had on recruits and signees.

She noted that recently she had two athletes visiting from Canada who were “wowed” by the facilities at Iowa State.

“They’re not going to come to come out and tell you ‘I chose Iowa State because of the video board’, but they’re going to say things like, ‘I chose Iowa State because of the facilities and how important their track and field program is in the overall scheme of the athletic department,’” Grove-McDonough said. “That kind of stuff is not lost on those kids.”

With the facility upgrades, a new coaching staff and the athletic department working toward making Iowa State a marquee program, the Cyclones are headed down the right track.

With those long-term goals and expectations in place, the team is focused on getting the results to go along with the facility and is looking forward to seeing the video board in action at the next home meet.

“I’m really excited, I had no idea about it until they started putting it up,” said Kelly McCoy, a current jumper on the team. “I can’t wait to see the big screen turned on.”