Before the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center was completed in the fall of 1999, the cross country team didn’t have a locker room.

Head coach Tom Rutledge remembers a time when he conducted meetings and the team had to dress anywhere they could.

“We were just so tickled to death to have our own dressing rooms,” he said. “When the Leggett & Platt building was completed we got the old basketball team’s old locker room, and we were just so happy to have a place to dress.”

Over the years, the locker room has transformed into more than just another place to get ready for practice. A computer work desk, two couches, a table, 40 lockers and a television complete the room.

“I have a lot of commuting students and they come and spend the day here,” Rutledge said. “Maybe that’s why our team does so well academically; because a lot of them do their studying between classes.”

The computer was added to the room before the building had computer laboratories. As the room evolved, student athletes found a meeting place, dressing room and study room.

Rutledge said his team’s “home away from home” is just as good a place as any. An added bonus to the room is it has motivation written all over the walls.

“In every dressing room I’ve ever had, I’ve put my All-Americans on the wall,” Rutledge said. “I don’t know how many are up there. I’ve had the privilege of coaching more than 100 All-Americans in a 10-year tenure; I’ve lost count. (The runners) feel that pressure of from those plaques, the ghosts looking down on them.”

These plaques are known to inspire, and Rutledge said his athletes always put “the wall” as a goal.

“I definitely want my name up there someday,” said Kyle Davis, junior health promotion wellness major and team captain. “You look up there and you see some guys with two to four plaques, it’s definitely a motivation.”