Mooberry Track and Field Complex History

Before Mooberry Track was constructed, Silver Lake occupied its space. In 1899, the college purchased six acres north of the athletic fields. A small earthen dam was placed at the lower end of the Sweetwater Valley (now the parking lots south of Beasley), and natural springs located on the site of present-day Beasley Coliseum created Silver Lake, also known as Lake DePuddle or the Tanglewoods. The lake was filled in in 1929 to allow the construction of the Hollingbery Fieldhouse. Mooberry Track is now located on the site of the lake.

The track was named after Jack Mooberry, he served as WSU’s head track and field coach from 1947-1973. As the head coach at WSU, Mooberry had a .706 dual meet victory percentage over his 30 year career.

The University’s track was originally inside of Martin Stadium. When the stadium went under renovation in 1978, the track removed from Martin. Its proposed location was out by WSU’s golf course. However, the dirt at the location was too frozen to create a running surface. The new solution was to move the baseball fields to the new location and create Mooberry in its present day location just outside of Martin Stadium.

Today, Mooberry Track hosts events such as track meets as well as an All Campus Picnic at the beginning of the academic year.

Read more about Silver Lake in Vanished places: Silver Lake and the Tanglewood and more about Mooberry Track at the WSU Athletics website[1].

<gallery> image: Silverlake.jpg|Long lost Silver Lake located where Mooberry Track stands today. Photo courtesy of WSU Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections. image: Track1986.jpg|A member of WSU's women's track team in 1986. Photo courtesy of WSU Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections. image: Trackandfieldgroup1953.jpg|Track and field group using the track inside of Rogers Field in 1953. Photo courtesy of WSU Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections.