Amid the splendor of Cal Lutheran athletic venues - towering Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center, artful William Rolland Stadium, idyllic George "Sparky" Anderson Field - there remains one glaring absence: a track. 

For more than two decades, the school's sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, throwers and distance runners have practiced off campus at Moorpark High School or elsewhere. For even longer, Kingsmen and Regals stars have been denied the singular thrill of climbing the podium in front of a home crowd.

New university President John Nunes wants to change that. 

Among the ambitious goals laid out by administrators during the annual State of the University address on Jan. 22: constructing a track and field venue in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in two years. 

Nunes, who shed the interim tag last summer to become Cal Lutheran's ninth president, told a standing-room-only crowd inside Lundring Events Center that his bold agenda will require a historic effort. 

"It's going to take a lot of work, and it's going to take prayer," he said. 

It will also take a lot of money. 

At the address, Rachel Ronning Lindgren, interim vice president for University Advancement, unveiled a $25-million fundraising initiative - $12 million to provide scholarships, $3 million to renovate Samuelson Chapel and $10 million to build a track. To date, they've secured $3.5 million. 

"This campaign is about investing in people and purpose and places," she said.  

Underlining the urgency for donors, Lindgren highlighted that completing the venue on an accelerated timeline would allow Cal Lutheran to vie for a prestigious role as a training site for the upcoming Summer Olympics, the first held in the United States in 30 years. 

When finished, she said, the track would transform an empty grass field on the northern end of campus into a bustling hub of activity and achievement. 

"Our athletic spaces are community places," Lindgren said. "Neighbors come for games, kids come for summer camps, and the campus becomes a place for all of us."

No home-field advantage

While they have proven that a home venue isn't a prerequisite for success — the men's and women's programs have produced over 50 NCAA Division III National Championship qualifiers and six individual national champions in the last 20 years — Kingsmen and Regals track athletes are in universal agreement: they want one. 

Sprinter Gracie Gervacio, a sophomore from Puyallup, Washington, told those attending the State of the University address that she and her teammates feel as if they're "missing something."

"(Building a track) would help our families and friends come and visit us and support our program," Gervacio said. "It would be a place for students to gather with their friends and come and support our team. It can also attract other athletes into our school and into our program."

Her biggest gripe isn't the 20-minute roundtrip commute to Moorpark or the gas money (she estimates she spent $500 going back and forth between practice last year), it's not getting the chance to compete in front of classmates. 

"Most of our meets are over an hour or two away," Gervacio said. "(Students) can see football, soccer, basketball, swimming … but they'll never be able to see an actual home meet of ours." 

An elite high school sprinter in her native Washington, Gervacio fell in love with Cal Lutheran before deciding to join the track team, so the absence of an on-campus venue wasn't a factor in her decision. However, she knows that for many top-tier recruits, the lack of a home track is a deal-breaker.

"The fact that we don't have a track can make it hard to recruit an athlete who has good potential," she said. "Sometimes it is the deciding factor for them."

The sports communication major has been tapped by President Nunes to help the university make its case to potential donors. It's no surprise why: Gervacio's story speaks volumes about the sacrifices student-athletes are willing to make to play the sports they love.

The 20-year-old lives with Behcet's disease, a rare disorder that causes blood vessel inflammation throughout the body and leads to regular bouts of debilitating joint pain.

"Competing in track is a great way for me to overcome the challenges of having this condition and to not let it overtake my life," she said. 

Both current and former student-athletes are closely following the university's latest fundraising push. Sarah Bjornson '24, an All-SCIAC pole vaulter, was an early advocate for the project, having launched a petition during her time at Cal Lutheran calling for an on-campus track.

"It felt like we didn't have a place to call our own, which is very important to a team's dynamic," said Bjornson, who as a pole vaulter regularly had to drive to Malibu High School for practice. "You want that home-field advantage. That's the place where you're supposed to shine."

About to enter dental school at the University of Washington, Bjornson said she'd be willing to support any effort to see the project through to completion.

"I'd definitely love to rally behind it," she said. "If anyone ever asks me, 'Can you talk about this?' I'm totally down to meet with people. It will have to be on Zoom, but I'd love to be part of it. It was something I was so passionate about when I was a student, and I'm still passionate about. I really hope they can build something a lot of future generations of track and field athletes can enjoy."

How Cal Lu came to have no track

It's been over two decades since crews bulldozed the 1960s-era cinder track off Mountclef Boulevard to make room for the tennis courts, Samuelson Aquatics Center and Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center. By that time, the outdated surface hadn't seen a sanctioned meet in several years.

Plans were drawn up to locate a new track on the northern edge of campus behind the Campus Services Building. Yet, the funding required to break ground never materialized. During that same period, major donors pledged millions to state-of-the-art facilities for nearly every other sport on campus, leaving track and field athletes feeling singled out. 

Ryan Van Ommeren, associate vice president of planning and services, said that wasn't the intention. 

"We absolutely wanted to get it done, but you've got to identify the right donor match," he said. "We had donors step forward for football, for basketball, for baseball. No one did for track and field."

Asked why Rolland Stadium, opened in 2011, didn't include running lanes around its grass infield, Van Ommeren said there simply wasn't room. 

"The footprint is definitely too small; there's a riparian corridor that cuts off the corner of that playfield," Van Ommeren said. "It never would have fit. We were going to have to deal with the Army Corps of Engineers." 

Talk that the stadium's namesake - William Rolland - only wanted a place for football and soccer are untrue, the 26-year Cal Lutheran employee said. 

"He was never consulted on the subject," Van Ommeren said.

Making dreams a reality

One could forgive track and field head coach Brett Halvaks for trying to not get his hopes up. He's been down this road before. 

Halvaks has heard talk about building a new track since he was a freshman distance runner at Cal Lutheran — in 2008. He said it's the long-running joke that's gone on too long. 

Still, the coach said something does feel different this time around. 

"There's definitely more energy behind it than I've seen in the past," Halvaks said. "You can sense that there's real movement."

Van Ommeren said his team isn't waiting for the first big check to be written to get started. The university is accepting proposals to complete the design work and hopes to have a firm in place this spring. 

"If all goes according to plan, we could start underground work as soon as Sept. 1," he said. 

The fate of the track now rests in the hands of some yet-to-be-identified donor, or donors, who will help Cal Lutheran secure the final jewel in its athletic facility crown. 

"It's the one thing we don't have," said Howard Davis, associate vice president and director of athletics. "We're hoping we can finally change that." 

To learn more or to donate to the campaign, visit takeflight.callutheran.edu.