CHADRON – With the volleyball season ending and basketball season starting up, one cannot help but be excited for the opening of the new $16 million dollar Chicoine Center. However, the history of the Eagles' home for many years, Armstrong Gymnasium, is rich.
 
Armstrong Gymnasium opened in the fall of 1964. The building was named after Ross Armstrong, longtime Chadron State employee and coach. Armstrong came to CSC in 1933 and stayed on the staff as executive director of the Chadron State Foundation until his death in January 1990.
 
Armstrong Gym has been host to hundreds, if not thousands of games and matches in its 50 years. Besides playing host to college athletics, the gym has been used for graduation ceremonies, fundraisers, prep rallies, tournaments, and many other events throughout the years.
 
Since opening, there have been 32 coaches to coach for CSC in three different sports across 50 years. There have been 49 seasons of men's basketball, 42 seasons of volleyball, and 40 seasons of women's basketball.
 
Men's basketball was the first sport to ever take the court in Armstrong Gymnasium in the winter of 1964.  Since then, there have been eight coaches. The final overall record of the teams to play in the gym is 589 wins to 744 losses. Arguably, the most successful men's team to play in the gym was the 1966-67 basketball team that was inducted to the Chadron State Athletic Hall of Fame this fall. They had a record of 22-6 and won the NAIA District 11 championship, as well as winning their opening-round game in the NAIA tournament that year. The career scoring record goes to Josh Robinson who scored 2,041 points between 1988-92.
 
Volleyball was brought to Chadron State College in 1972. Since then there have been 15 coaches through 42 seasons. Not including the current season, the total record stands at 588 wins, 719 losses, and eight ties. The first volleyball team in 1972 made it to the Nebraska Collegiate Championship. Chadron State College actually hosted the state tourney, or the Nebraska Women's Intercollegiate Volleyball Tournament. While hosting, the Eagles defeated the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Peru State, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Kearney State to win the title. The Eagles finished their first season with a record of 14-3. Arguably the best hitter for the Eagles would be Roxie Boehm, who has a career total 1,819 kills including 621 in the 1991 season.
 
The last Chadron State College sport to start in Armstrong was women's basketball. In its 40 seasons, Chadron State women's basketball has seen nine coaches with a combined record of 415 wins to 600 losses. Tricia Lukawski holds the record for most career points with 1,869. The most points ever scored by an Eagle in Armstrong belongs to current CSC student Kattie Ranta, who scored 40 points against Adams State in January of 2013.
 
In its 50 years, the coach to win the most games while roaming the halls of Armstrong is Tom Anderson, who coached the women's basketball team from 1994-2007 with 144 victories. With only a loss less is Marge Burkett, who coached the CSC volleyball team from 1978-84.
 
The coach with the best winning percentage goes to the first ever volleyball coach Wanda Rainbolt, who had a winning percentage of 68.5.
 
Additionally, the men's basketball coach with the most wins is the first coach to coach in the building, Mack Peyton, who won 134 of his 190 career wins while his team was in Armstrong Gymnasium.
 
Armstrong has seen many players, almost too many to count. It has provided thousands of people with entertainment, seen millions of shoes, and has had hundreds of thousands of fans sit in its stands cheering on their teams.
 
With the new addition, Armstrong Gymnasium will continue to be used for practices, tournaments, and other organized events, but the days of cheering on Chadron State College athletics from the wooden bleachers of Armstrong are officially over.