“To see the joy of the players
having a place of their own — it was
truly satisfying and rewarding.”
AU D R E Y
W I L C OX
who has firsthand athletics experience
and a clear view of the emotional
and financial impact that the facility
would have. “President Cost was
always committed to getting it going,”
Gleichenhaus said. “He always stood
behind it and without that, it never
gets off the ground.” “It probably impacts 150 people and
helps them recruit and attract kids to
the University. They are trying to get
kids from more than the Jacksonville
area. They want to also get west coast
and east coast kids because you are
competing against programs like
Duke and Johns Hopkins.”
As Cost, Ricker-Gilbert, Galloway and
women’s lacrosse coaches Mindy and
Paul McCord all provided their input
on the layout and needed elements of
the facility, both local and out-of-state
donors were also kept in the loop
along the way during the planning
and construction processes. “We live
in Denver and have had coaches over
here for dinner,” Gleichenhaus said. “We
knew our son was in good hands (at
JU). He knew the athletic director and
the University president. At a bigger
school, you won’t know everybody.
Polly and I felt very engaged and it was
really rewarding for us.” Hannah Wilcox, a McMurray, Pa.,
native, played in 78 matches for the
women’s lacrosse program from 2014-
17. She scored 63 goals and was the
ASUN Conference Tournament MVP
in her senior year. She now works as
a human resources coordinator for
the athletics department as well as
being an assistant to Ricker-Gilbert.
Wilcox’s family also witnessed the
early stages of building the facility.
“We went down (to Jacksonville) when
Hannah was still in high school,” JB
Wilcox said. “It was a vision. Then we
saw a first set of plans and a second
set of plans. Then a six- or seven- year
journey came to fruition.”
As facility illustrations gradually
turned into a brick-and-mortar
reality, all those involved moved
closer to seeing a multi-year project
reach the final stages. Ten offices,
a conference room, film room,
locker rooms and two outdoor
patios became part of the landscape.
Tours were scheduled to give staff
members, student-athletes and
donors a sneak peak at the late-term
progress. “It’s much more intimate
than facilities designed for 10,000 or
20,000 people,” Gleichenhaus said.
36
F E AT U R E S
That journey included a lot of phone
calls, emails and texts as people
thousands of miles away from each
other tried to keep swimming in the
same direction. “The hardest part was
[finding] other parents who saw it
as a great investment opportunity if
their son or daughter is not going to
be a (direct) part of it,” Audrey Wilcox
said. “To see the joy of the players
having a place of their own – it was
truly satisfying and rewarding.”
After all of the steps taken during
several years, it was time to walk
through the facility before the
February dedication that marked
the official opening. “It was fun,”
Gleichenhaus said. “It took six
years from when I got involved. The
University stuck with it and didn’t
give up. President Cost kept working
and we kept working. The coaches
had a lot of input on the final makeup
of it. They did a lot of cool stuff for
the training room and locker rooms.”
So now the Rock Lacrosse Center is
part of campus, having taken its place
adjacent to D.B. Milne Field. To the
people who played roles in the process,
it is a continuation of both the lacrosse
programs and the other facilities on
campus. “It’s so personal,” Audrey
Wilcox says. “It’s not just posters of
the current team (in the interior). It’s a
legacy and the future.”