NORMAL, Ill. – After capturing two Missouri Valley Conference Championships last season, marking seven-straight conference titles for the ISU women, Illinois State Track & Field announced the release of its 2021-22 indoor and outdoor track & field schedule. In total, the Redbirds are set to compete at 23 regular season meets across the indoor and outdoor campaigns, as well as host three home meets on the season.
Illinois State kicks off the indoor campaign at home as the Redbirds are set to host the John Coughlan Invite on Saturday, Dec. 4 inside Horton Fieldhouse. The meet will mark the first indoor home meet for the 'Birds in over 600 days, having last hosted an indoor meet in 2020.
"We're excited to compete at home three times this season on our newly renovated indoor and outdoor surfaces." Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jeff Bovee said.
The following weekend, the Redbirds will make a short trip north to Chicago, Illinois for the DePaul Invite on Friday, Dec. 10.
Following the holiday break, Illinois State travels to Terre Haute, Indiana for the Coughlan-Malloy Cup, a dual against Indiana State, on Jan. 15. The Coughlan-Malloy Cup returns after a year-long hiatus. ISU most recently won the trophy in 2020, marking its third-straight victory in the Cup.
The Redbirds then travel to Champaign, Illinois the following weekend to compete at the University of Illinois on Jan. 21-22. The meet will mark the first of four meets at Illinois across the indoor and outdoor campaigns.
On Jan. 29, Illinois State will make its first out-of-state trip, traveling to Louisville, Kentucky.
In the first weekend of February, the 'Birds will split up, sending one squad to the Meyo Invite in South Bend, Indiana on Feb. 4-5. A group of student-athletes will remain in Bloomington-Normal to compete in the Keck Select, hosted by Illinois Wesleyan on Feb. 5.
The 'Birds will be busy on the weekend of Feb. 11-12, sending student-athletes to three separate meets. ISU will send squads to both the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa on Feb. 11-12 and to the GVSU Big Meet in Allendale, Michigan on Feb. 12. A group of students will also remain in Bloomington-Normal to compete at the Titan Open on Feb. 12.
To close out the regular season, the Redbirds will split student-athletes on the weekend of Feb. 18-19, traveling to both Illinois in Champaign on Friday and the Alex Wilson Invite in South Bend, Indiana on Saturday.
"We have a well-balanced team that will benefit from top-notch competition from other MVC program and Power 5 teams," Bovee said. "We have many competitions close to home which will allow our fans to come support us but other meets that will allow our top performers to see the best in the NCAA."
Postseason competition will begin with the MVC Indoor Championships, set for February 27 and 28. A location for the MVC Indoor Championships is to be determined. The Redbird women will look defend their title and win their fifth-consecutive indoor championship. Coming off a third-place finish at the 2021 indoor championships, the ISU men will look to win their first title since 2019.
Following the MVC Championships, any student-athletes that meets qualifying standards for the NCAA Indoor Championships will compete in Birmingham, Alabama on March 11-12.
To kick off the outdoor campaign, Illinois State will split squads among three meets. Squads will travel to both Austin, Texas for the Texas Relays on March 23-26 and Raleigh, North Carolina for the Raleigh Relays on March 24-25. Additionally, a smaller group will travel to St. Louis, Missouri to compete in the Billiken invitational on March 25.
ISU will host its first of two outdoor meets on April 1 and 2 with the Redbird Invite. Last season, the Redbird men and women took first place in both of their two home meets. Keeping it in the state of Illinois, the 'Birds will travel to Champaign for the Illini Relays on April 8-9.
Illinois State will honor its seniors at the Redbird Challenge on April 15-16 at the Redbird Outdoor Track. A small group will also travel out to Walnut, California for the Mt. SAC Relays on April 14-16.
Following the home meet, ISU will travel to Illinois, for the final time of the 2021-22 campaign, on April 23.
Illinois State will make trips to Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Relays (April 28-30) and Louisville, Kentucky (April 29-30) the following weekend. For a final tune up before the postseason, the Redbirds will travel to Madison, Wisconsin on May 6.
The 'Birds will make a return trip to Des Moines, Iowa for the MVC Outdoor Championships, where the ISU women will aim to win their fourth-consecutive outdoor title, while the ISU men will attempt to build off their second-place finish last season.
Student-athletes who qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Round will travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas from May 25-28 to compete for a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The NCAA Outdoor Championships will be held on June 8-11 in Eugene, Oregon.
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