A new horizon awaits Divisions I and II indoor track and field student-athletes who qualify for their respective championships. For those athletes and their coaches, it will be a trip into the unknown.

The two championships, which are slated for Fayetteville, Arkansas (Division I), and Boston (Division II) have been conducted concurrently at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis since 1995. Division I had held its championships at the site since 1989.

This year, however, the two groups not only will not be in the same place at the same time, but they also will not be in Indiana's capital city. The requested dates were no longer available at the RCA Dome, so Butler University and USA Track and Field, the championships' local organizing bodies, did not submit a bid to continue hosting the meets.

Both divisions are planning, at least for now, to take advantage of the situation.

"This will enable us to use the site-selection process and take the championships to additional places that are very supportive of track and field," said John Cochrane, NCAA assistant director of championships and liaison to the Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee's Division II subcommittee.

The Division I meet is moving to the Randal Tyson Track Center at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, through 2003, while the Division II meet shifts to the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston. The changes have left coaches and administrators looking fondly at both the past and the future.

"Indianapolis has been a terrific site for the championships," said Diane Howell, associate athletics director for sports programs at the University of Houston and chair of the Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee. "Butler and USA Track and Field did an outstanding job as the hosts.

"Nonetheless, Division I is excited to be going to a brand new facility, especially one where the management is committed to making its center one of the best in the country."

A similar sentiment was expressed by Jeff DeGraw, track and field coach at Lewis University and chair of the track and field committee's Division II subcommittee.

"Having both divisions competing at the same site on the same weekend made for a great track and field atmosphere," DeGraw said. "In addition, everyone came to have a familiarity with Indianapolis and the RCA Dome -- where to stay and eat, when you needed to be where, and so forth."

Now, DeGraw and the Division II track and field community will be welcomed by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), the host organization for the Boston championships in both 2000 and 2001. "The ECAC really wanted to host this event and has done a great job of preparation thus far.

"There may be things that do not go perfectly this year, and the two-year commitment will give them the opportunity to make the necessary adjustments for 2001."

Intimate surroundings

One of the biggest benefits of the moves for both divisions will be a return to a competitive setting that is more advantageous for both the student-athletes and spectators. "You get lost in the sheer size of the RCA Dome, and it seemed that the athletes were on an island," said Mark Kostek, assistant track and field coach at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and chair of the Division I subcommittee. Capacity for the home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts is 60,272.

"It never felt like there were a lot of spectators there," DeGraw said.

The Randal Tyson Track Center, on the other hand, is designed for a maximum of 6,500 spectators and is expected to be near a sellout for the championships. The actual 200-meter banked track in the facility is the same one used for the International Amateur Athletic Federation World Indoor Championships in Toronto in 1993.

"There will be a very intimate feeling," Kostek said. "Athletes enjoy full stands because it contributes to the excitement of the event.

"When you take that dynamic and add to it the best fields in each event in the country, the top athletes really could take their performances to a higher level."

DeGraw expects a similar reaction at the Division II competition in the 3,500-seat Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. "The spectators will be much closer to the action. They should be much louder and bring a level of enthusiasm that was missed in the dome."

Division II also will benefit from being at a separate site in terms of event scheduling. When both championships were conducted at the RCA Dome, Division II began its sessions in the morning and completed them by early to mid-afternoon.

The first day's schedule for this year's event is set for a 5 p.m. start. "It will be good to have that prime-time opportunity," DeGraw said. "Athletes tend to perform better in the late afternoon and evening than in the morning and early afternoon."

'Wait and see'

Both DeGraw and Kostek recognize that their excitement may not be shared by everyone within their respective divisions.

"There are some folks who are taking a 'wait-and-see' attitude in regards to moving from Indianapolis and being at a separate site," DeGraw said. "Many of them have never been to Boston."

In exchange for a more intimate facility, the Division I athletes and coaches will find a difference in their precompetition procedures. The warm-up area will be located in a different building from the competition site.

"That is one of the inconveniences of not having an arena/convention center complex, such as we had in Indianapolis," Kostek said. "Once people get out of their comfort zones, anxiety usually rises."

So while both divisions are looking forward to their own sites for the immediate future, does that mean a permanent end to the championships being held at the same location? DeGraw and Howell both discounted that possibility.

"When it comes time to review sites again, I think Division I would consider continuing the relationship we have had with Division II," Howell said.

"Division I treated us very well," DeGraw said. "It (the same-site championships) was a great track and field meet."