Bison roam new Sprinturf field

FARGO (AP) — The North Dakota State football team has used its new Sprinturf practice field for the first time, and team members and officials are impressed.

“Today’s a day, one of the biggest reasons why we’ve got a surface that allows us to come out and get a good functional workout in with the weather,” head coach Craig Bohl said during a misty Wednesday practice.

The turf was installed at old Dacotah Field, the outdoor stadium where NDSU used to play home games. The Bison have since moved into the Fargodome, and last fall the university tore out the old artificial turf at Dacotah Field and replaced it with Sprinturf.

The $400,000 project was aimed at giving the team a place to run drills when grass practice fields were wet, as they were Wednesday.

Sprinturf uses rubber fill for a padded surface that is cushier than the Fargodome’s artificial turf.

“That’s the main difference between this and the Fargodome ... that it’s a lot softer,” wide receiver Jordan Schultenover said. “After a hard practice you don’t feel it in your joints as much. You feel not as sore. I love this surface a lot ... no matter what kind of weather you get you are going to have the same grip.”

Tags: sports, bison, football, sprinturf, field