NORMAL, Ill. – Coming off three Missouri Valley Conference championships last season, the Illinois State track & field team is prepped for a challenging schedule in its 2019-2020 campaign.
"We think we've got one of the most competitive schedules of any program in the Midwest," ISU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jeff Bovee said.
The Redbirds will kick off the indoor season at Eastern Illinois on Dec. 6 at the EIU Early Bird. The following weekend (Dec. 13-14), ISU will compete at Iowa's Jimmy Grant Invite.
After the holiday break, the 'Birds will return to Horton Field House to host the Coughlan-Malloy Cup for the first time in over a decade.
"The obvious exciting part of our schedule this year is having home contests in Horton Field House again for the first time in many years," said Bovee. "With our revamped surface, we're looking forward to some great performances in there and we'll kick it off with the dual against Indiana State."
Following their home meet, the Redbirds will travel to their first of three meets at Notre Dame during the indoor campaign. The Notre Dame Invite on Jan. 25 is the first trip to South Bend of the year for Illinois State. The 'Birds will then compete at the Adidas Classic in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, before returning to South Bend for the Meyo Invite on Feb. 7-8.
Over Valentine's Day weekend, ISU will travel to Ames, Iowa to participate in the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 14-15.
"If you look at the schedule you see three meets at Notre Dame and then a meet at Nebraska and Iowa State," Bovee said. "The Nebraska and Iowa State (meets) are new meets that we'll take full teams to. Those are two great venues that are going to put us up against some of the best competition in the country. At the end of the day everything is geared toward the Missouri Valley Championships and qualifying athletes for the NCAA Championships."
The 'Birds will close out the indoor regular season at home on Feb. 21 for the Redbird Tune-Up and at Notre Dame on Feb. 22 for the Alex Wilson Invite.
Both Redbird squads will go for their third-straight MVC Indoor Championships titles, beginning on Feb. 29 and continuing through March 1 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Student-athletes who post qualifying times and marks throughout the season will compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on March 13-14.
With an extra week during outdoor season because of how the calendar fell, the Redbirds have a similar outdoor schedule to last year plus the addition of a few meets.
The outdoor campaign will begin at the Raleigh Relays on March 27-28 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
"Raleigh is a new meet for us," Bovee said. "That's going to be primarily the distance runners trying to hit a qualifying mark out there."
Illinois State's full squad will open the outdoor season on their home track with the annual Redbird Invite on April 3-4.
"We're looking to have eight to ten teams there this year, so it should be really competitive," Bovee continued.
Following the home meet, ISU will make the trip to SEC territory in Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Tennessee Relays on April 9-11. Illinois State competes in Terre Haute, Indiana, at the Gibson Invite the next weekend (April 17-18).
The weekend of April 24-25, the squad is split between the Lenny Lyles-Clark Wood Invite in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
The final two meets of the regular season are single-day meets for ISU with the first coming on May 1 at the Billy Hayes Invite in Bloomington, Indiana, and the second coming in Madison, Wisconsin, at the Wisconsin Alumni Quadrangular on May 8.
Illinois State will return to Des Moines for the MVC Outdoor Championships on May 15-17, as the Redbird women look to three-peat as MVC outdoor champions and the men look to build on last year's MVC outdoor runner-up finish.
Student-athletes who qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Round (May 28-30) will travel to Lawrence, Kansas, to compete for a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The NCAA Outdoor Championships are June 10-13 in Austin, Texas.
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