The men’s and women’s track and field and cross-country teams revealed the dedication of their new locker rooms to the head track and field and cross-country teams’ coach Don Nichter.  Athletes on the teams reported that the locker rooms will lead to a more competitive edge as well as a more unified team experience across events.

“There’s the physical space and how that permits student athletes to have a place to change and a place to keep their gear and use the Kline Center in a way that we haven’t been able to in the past when student athletes on the team had to come and go with their backpack and their gear.  So, obviously that’s beneficial in and of itself,” said Nichter.  “I think more importantly, symbolically, from a team standpoint, to have a space where the team can gather and athletes are allowed to interact with each other, I think that’s significant in terms of how it brings a team together and when you’re dealing with a sport like cross country or track and field that’s an individual and a team sport, it’s particularly important to be able to have athletes in a situation that allows different event groups to come together in a common place, even if it’s just an exchange for 30 second or a minute going in and out, it’s something greater is happening there from the standpoint of the team dynamic that’s being cultivated in a positive way.”

Ryan Murphy ’20 said that having the locker rooms, which were named for Nichter, “shows that no matter what event you do, you do have a place on the team as a whole even though in most events, except for relays, you compete for yourself, it shows that you need to come together as a unit to win any meet.  It doesn’t take one good athlete to win a meet.  It takes everyone to contribute.”

Kacper Rzempoluch ’21 echoed this sentiment, saying, “it’s going to bring a lot of stability towards making the team a whole unit rather than just separate entities.”

However, Nichter also pointed out how the locker rooms divide the team in a significant way.  “The program,” he explained, “is a men’s and women’s program with a single coaching staff that coaches both groups, but within that large umbrella, if you will, there is a men’s team and a women’s team, which oftentimes gets lost.”  He emphasized that “it’s not a co-ed team; we’re a men’s and a women’s team, we just happen to be two separate teams under the same coaching staff.  So, a men’s locker room and a women’s locker room bring into play the idea that there are two different teams here and that they both are somewhat independent of each other but that they’re also part of a larger group.”  He said that “in that sense, having a space that is separate for the two programs is also a significant statement that the college has made and the athletic department has made.”

This statement by the college is important from a recruitment standpoint as well.

“What I hear from some of our recruits,” continued Nichter, is that “they are in situations in high school where those teams have their own space already…some recruits actually expect that…I think when we can sell the idea that this is our team room and this is our locker room, that’s certainly going to be a nice recruiting advantage and something that’s going to be looked on favorably with the direction that our program is heading and the commitment the college has to the sport of track and field and cross country.”

“Being track athletes,” says Adam Gamber ’20, “we usually have to carry our locker room on our backs, and just changing out at the track and keeping our things with us is not ideal, so a homey space to call our own is a positive thing in general” that has the power to attract serious athletes to the program.”

“For my first 30 plus years here,” said Nichter on the importance of having a space to meet as a varsity sport, “[track and field and cross country] met on the gym floor, in the corner. There were basketballs bouncing and volleyballs flying through the air, and people jogging on the track. It was just a crazy situation for conducting team business, and now to be able to have a team room and a locker room and be able to talk to the teams separately if we need to is really important.” The locker rooms are located in the Kline center.

Caitlin Farrell ’18 says that she is “so jealous of all the freshmen and underclassmen that get to have [their lockers] for their whole time at Dickinson.  I’m just so happy that this is now part of our program.”

Zach Popkin ’19 said that in his opinion, “There’s no one more deserving of getting these locker rooms named after them than Coach Nichter what with all that he’s done for the program over the years.”

“We’re really grateful that the college, the sponsors, the donors that really believed in us and came forward, that’s who we really owe our gratitude to,” commented Nichter.

The locker room dedication ceremony took place on Saturday, March 24.