Gunston Opens New Student Athletic Center and Expands Athletic Offerings

Photo: Gunston’s trustees, coaches, and building committee, join Headmaster John Lewis, SGA president Caroline Roser, and Athletic Director Jon Mellinger in cutting the ribbon on Heron House, the new student athletic center. — Gunston’s trustees, coaches, and building committee, join Headmaster John Lewis, SGA president Caroline Roser, and Athletic Director Jon Mellinger in cutting the ribbon on Heron House, the new student athletic center. – Contributed Photo

Centreville – Gunston recently cut the ribbon for its new student athletic center—Heron House. Overlooking the Corsica River, Heron House involved a major conversation and expansion of the former Headmaster’s residence, which has been transformed into a 3,000 square foot facility that includes a fitness/workout space for all students, team rooms, provisions for environmental teaching and learning, and event facilities for Gunston’s nationally competitive crew and sailing teams.

“Heron House reflects the essence of our waterfront campus, and the vision of our Board of Trustees to convert Heron House for athletic use was tremendous, especially with nearly 40% of our student-athletes competing in waterfront athletics,” said Jon Mellinger, Gunston’s Director of Athletics.

With Gunston’s enrollment growing to over 200 students, the school will also be expanding athletic offerings. The addition of Heron House will facilitate the growth of four new athletic offerings—triathlon and softball will make their debut in the spring of 2019, while golf and cross country will launch during the 2019-2020 school year. All four of these sports will utilize existing campus facilities as well as wider community facilities.

“We’re very excited about these new additions,” said Gunston’s Headmaster, John Lewis. “Between the athletics and admissions departments, we’ve spent a lot of time and energy thinking about our areas of strength and potential growth within athletics. We’ve generated a lot of excitement amongst the student body and I am excited to see these offerings take shape. We’re also excited about the high quality coaching that these sports will enjoy. Our Athletic Director Jon Mellinger is a former collegiate runner at St. Lawrence, and is currently a nationally competitive triathlete.”

Gunston supports 17 interscholastic programs and 7 fitness programs for its student-athletes—requiring all students to participate in two seasons of athletics each year. These offerings will help expand an already robust offering to reach additional areas of interest and potential competitive success.

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