Aug. 26, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
The ISU men's and women's track and field team announced its 2009-10 indoor and outdoor schedules Wednesday. The season will consist of 17 meets, with three being hosted by ISU at the Redbird Track and in Horton Field House.
"Our schedule this year is built on two things that can benefit our student-athletes," said head coach Elvis Forde. "One to compete in meets similar to what skills we work on in practice and our skill level, while number two would be the difficulty of the schedule is to go up against the better teams in this area. We have the sense that we are in a good central location and get to see a lot of top competition."
The Redbirds will kick off their 2009-10 indoor season at home in Horton Field House Dec. 5 at the Redbird Open. ISU will then have a month-long break over the holiday, but will return to action at home Jan. 16 against Valley rival Indiana State. From there, ISU will travel to the Indiana Relays, Jan. 29-30, in Bloomington, Ind.
"The top competition at the indoor circuit would be at Indiana, Iowa State and Notre Dame during the indoor season," said Forde. "The schedule will get us ready for the indoor championships."
February will bring four meets for the Redbirds, with the first tournament being the Mayo Invitational, Feb. 5-6, followed by the Iowa State Classic, Feb. 12-13. From there, the Redbirds will travel to Charleston, Ill., to compete at the Eastern Illinois Twilight Meet on Feb. 19. ISU will compete at the 2010 MVC Indoor Championships, Feb. 27-28, at Northern Iowa.
March will draw an end to the indoor season for the Redbirds, but first ISU will compete in three meets. ISU will split its team in two for the weekend of March 5 for the last meets of the regular season. The Redbirds will compete in the Alex Wilson Invitational and the Last Chance Meet, both on March 5-6. The NCAA Indoor Championships will be held March 12-13, where individuals can compete if they have top marks and times.
The Redbirds don't have much time to rest as the 2010 outdoor season gets underway just weeks after the indoor season ends. ISU will debut its outdoor season on March 27 at the Southern Illinois Gill Spring Classic. From there, the Redbirds will compete in seven meets during April.
Illinois State will compete in the Big Blue Classic, April 2-3, in Charleston, Ill. On April 10, the Redbirds will split their teams into two, with one competing at the Lee Calhoun Memorial in Macomb, Ill., and other team competing at the Sea Ray Relays, April 9-10, in Knoxville, Tenn.
"On the outdoor schedule, we are going to take some of our kids down to Knoxville, Tenn., to compete against some of the SEC schools," said Forde. "We will also compete at Arkansas to give our student-athletes the opportunity to go against top performers. We believe that the foundation is there for our teams to compete at a high level and have a great amount of success."
The Redbirds will compete in the Mt. Sac Relays, April 16-17. ISU will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the McDonnell Invitational, April 17. The Redbirds will go to the competitive Drake Relays, April 22-24 and host the Redbird Invitational April 24. In May, Illinois State will compete in the Jesse Owens Classic on May 1, and then compete in the final meet of the regular season at the Billy Hayes Invitational on May 7.
The Redbirds' post-season meets will begin May 14. Illinois State will host the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships at the Redbird Track, May 14-16. The NCAA West Regional will be May 28-29 for Redbirds who advance past the conference meet.
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