UPIKE announces new ‘Bear Mountain’ sports complex

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (WYMT) - The University of Pikeville announced a new home for many of the school’s athletic programs.

UPIKE’s “Bear Mountain” is being placed on a mountain top on Cedar Creek Road in Pikeville and will be the new home for the university’s football, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s track and field, and men’s and women’s tennis programs.

UPIKE President Dr. Burton Webb says, although the city of Pikeville has played a wonderful host in the past, it is hard to recruit college athletes without a dedicated home field, and the new facilities should entice more athletes and make UPIKE an even more competitive athletics program.

“We’ve had moments where, you know, the high school wants to have a football game and we need to have one at the same time, or we need to have practice, and it’s never been great to recruit college athletes to a field that has high school materials on it,” said President Webb. “There’s nothing wrong with the high school, it’s just college athletes want something different.”

President Webb also said the complex will feature plenty of parking for tailgating opportunities as well as a walking track and hiking and biking trails for the community. He also said there are opportunities for other sports to use the facilities, such as the university’s archery team, and the entire athletics staff is excited to see the finished product.

You can check out the 3D model of Bear Mountain, here.

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