FORT WAYNE – Two hours before Thursday’s season-opening kickoff, Trine football coach Matt Land was cruising through the renovated Fred Zollner Athletic Complex.

“You have to see it to believe it,” Land said before his Thunder thumped Manchester 55-7. “This place is unbelievable.”

With a veranda-like setting overlooking the field, complete with at least a dozen tables for four, guest suites, a luxurious president’s suite complete with fireplace, and a state-of-the-art press box, NCAA Division III Trine has joined the list of local and area colleges that are building for the future.

The business of athletics has also been a boon to the construction business.

At Trine, the renovation project was $3.75 million.

IPFW is in the midst of a $42 million student services building that will house a six-lane, 200-meter track and three basketball/volleyball courts.

Saint Francis is waiting for the sale of 13 acres of land across from Bishop D’Arcy Stadium before it begins building a $20 million athletics complex, complete with a multipurpose bubble.

And Indiana Tech’s $2 million, 18,500-square-foot Warrior Athletic Center that offers a gymnasium, locker rooms and coaches’ offices is near completion and will be open within a couple of weeks.

Competition not only takes place on a football field or basketball floor or volleyball court, but universities are competing to attract students.

“Anytime we can get ‘town and gown’ going on, it’s a great situation, because we serve the entire region as a university,” IPFW athletic director Tommy Bell said.

More than 5,000 fans attended Trine’s dedication of its new facility.

“Our locker room has 150 lockers in it and still enough room for a 70-person meeting,” Land said. “We have our own laundry room, our own weight room, our own training room. And that’s only downstairs.”

Indiana Tech adds bowling

Indiana Tech will add bowling to its varsity sports beginning in October, according to coach Larry Secrist.

Although the sport will be available to both men and women, Secrist said that he might redshirt the six female players and start competitive matches next season.

“They’re not very strong,” Secrist said. “We may have a team, and even if we have a team, it won’t be competitive for collegiate bowling, that’s for sure.”

Secrist added that the men, who practice at Pro Bowl West and Westwood Lanes, will be divided into two teams of eight – one varsity, one reserve.

Ex-Harding star makes 1st start

Former Harding standout Devin Dominguez and Alabama State quarterback made his first collegiate start in a 34-6 win against Mississippi Valley State last week. Dominguez threw for 261 yards and three touchdowns. Dominguez was the quarterback for the 2006 Class 2A state champion Hawks.