Wichita State Athletics

 

Virtual Tour

Cessna Stadium will soon undergo a radical transformation as part of a capital improvement plan designed to reshape the 77-year-old facility into a state-of-the-art home for Wichita State athletics, university and community events, as well as the Kansas State High School Track and Field Championship.
 
In September 2022, the Kansas Board of Regents approved funding for phases 1A and 1B in a multi-year plan that will eventually lead to a 13,000-seat venue with a combination of bleacher and berm seating, a nine-lane track and a widened infield conducive for a regulation soccer pitch. Other amenities will include a single level of press boxes and viewing decks, restrooms, concessions, storage space, and offices/locker rooms/team room areas for a future soccer program.
 
Click here to learn more about the project, which is scheduled to begin in June 2023.
 
The current stadium site, located on the northwest corner of campus at the intersection of 21^st Street and Hillside, has been in use by the university for the better part of eight decades. Veterans Field, a 15,000-seat football stadium, made its debut in 1946. Capacity more than doubled in 1969 with the completion of a $1.5 million expansion project and the stadium has since been named in honor of the Cessna Aircraft Company, which provided the lead gift.
 
While WSU no longer sponsors football, the stadium has served the Shocker track and field program since 1959. Recent improvement projects have focused on enhancing its reputation as one of the region’s premier track and field venues.
 
A $1.3 million investment in 2002 included the addition of an eighth lane to the track, along with a thicker, more-durable polyurethane surface. The track’s wide radius allows for flatter turns and faster times while opening up additional space on the infield for multi-directional runways and pits for field events.
 
WSU added a new dimension to the fan experience in 2019 with the installation of a large videoboard on the north end of the stadium.
 
Improvements continued in the Fall of 2020 with the completion of a two-story, 36,000-square-foot Student-Athlete Center on the stadium’s southwest corner. The entire ground floor is devoted to Shocker Track and Field athletes with new locker rooms, a large team room, and top-of-the-line athletic training and weight room facilities. The top floor includes office space for coaches and a balcony overlooking the track.
 
Cessna Stadium plays host to a number of track and field events throughout the year, including the annual KT Woodman Classic in early April, and is a regular in the conference rotation, hosting 16 Missouri Valley and two American Athletic Conference championship meets (2019 and 2022).
 
For more than half-a-century, Cessna Stadium has been home to one of Kansas’ best sporting traditions, the KSHSAA State Track and Field Championship. The nation’s largest state meet brings boys and girls from all six classifications to one site to compete for titles. With the exception of 1978 (when track renovations split the meet into three locations), WSU has been the site of every state meet since 1970, and future stadium construction phases are designed to allow that run to continue uninterrupted.
 
Over the years, the stadium has opened its doors to numerous other events, such as the USATF Junior Olympic Nationals, the Kansas Special Olympics, the Shrine Bowl (Kansas's high school all-star football game) and numerous small college and high school football matchups, including 24 KSHSAA state title games.
 
In addition to sporting events, Cessna Stadium has been used for a multitude of other community events, highlighted by the largest concert in Wichita history. On Oct. 1, 2006, more than 32,000 people turned out to see the Rolling Stones perform.

Public Hours:
The facility is open to recreational use, weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., except during WSU practice times and other scheduled events. For further information on scheduling the facility, contact Brad Pittman at 316-978-5556.