The 2008 track and field season will mark the 33rd year the Arizona State University track and field and cross country program has called Joe Selleh Track at Sun Angel Stadium home. The stadium, which opened in time for the 1976 season at an estimated coast of $3 million, will once again serve as the host site for several of the top meets in the nation, including the 29th Sun Angel Track Classic presented by Coca-Cola and the 2008 Pac-10 Conference Championships.
In 2008, Sun Angel Stadium will play host to its eighth conference championship meet, including its fourth Pac-10 meet with the others coming in 1999, 1991 and 1979. Prior to that, Sun Angel Stadium served as the host site of the 1986 Pacific West Conference Championships, the 1976 Western Athletic Conference Championships, the 1983 Big Sky Conference Championship and the 1978 Intermountain Conference Championship meets.
Dozens of Olympians from numerous countries have competed at the previous 28 Sun Angel Track Classics, making the meet a world class event and, with one of the top running surfaces in the nation installed prior to the start of the 2008 season, the 29th edition should feature a strong field again. From its humble beginnings as the Sun Devil Relays, created by former ASU Senior Associate Athletic Director Herman Frazier and Charlie Wells, the Sun Angel Track Classic has seen the likes of Leroy Burrell, Tony Dees, Gail Devers, Tim Harden, Floyd Heard, Nick Hysong, Jackie Joyner Kersee, Jeff Laynes, Carl Lewis, Jud Logan, Mike Marsh, Inger Miller, Dennis Mitchell, Dan O'Brien, Anna Sorderberg, Lynda Tolbert-Goode and Quincy Watts, to name a few.
Prior to the 2008 season, Joe Selleh Track was resurfaced with the latest Mondo product, Mondotrack FTX, giving the venue that has hosted numerous world class athletes a world class running surface. The only venue in the world to have the surface installed (the second will be Beijing's Olympic Stadium in time for the 2008 Summer Games), Joe Selleh Track and the runways for javelin, long jump and pole vault are coated in maroon while the remaining surface, including the newly installed 'D' zone at the north end of the facility, being coated in gold.
Joe Selleh Track underwent its last face-lift in 1996 as the university budgeted $500,000 for the project and an additional $200,000 was raised by the athletic department through the Sun Devil Club. As a result, there are nine 48-inch lanes, dual long and triple jump runways, three throwing areas and two high jump pits. As part of the resurfacing in 2008, the shot put area was expanded to incorporate two competition rings.
The west side seating is constructed of pre-stressed concrete, 45 rows in height, with all seating equidistant to the finish line. The seating capacity exceeds 5,000, and the east side of the track has the space for an additional 4,000 seats with movable bleachers.
In 1999, a new scoreboard and timing system were put in place and a student-athlete clubhouse is scheduled to be added as part of Arizona State University's $400-million Campaign for Leadership, which includes $25 million for athletic facility improvements.