NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State Track & Field announced its indoor and outdoor schedule for the 2025-26 season on Monday. The Redbirds will compete in 18 regular season events, including eight indoor and 10 outdoor, with one home meet.
Illinois State starts the indoor season with a handful of distance runners competing at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Opener in Boston on Dec. 6. Following winter break, the Redbirds will compete against Indiana State in the Coughlan-Malloy Cup in Terre Haute, Ind., on Jan. 17. The next weekend, ISU will travel to the University of Iowa for the Larry Wieczorek Invitational on Jan. 23-24, before multi-event athletes close the month at the Dr. Rick McGuire Invitational hosted by the University of Missouri on Jan. 30-31.
The Redbirds begin February in Chicago at the Windy City Classic hosted by the Wisconsin Badgers.
"The Windy City Classic is going to be a high caliber competition and a very big assessment tool for us midseason," said head coach Jeff Bovee. "I think that'll be a lot of fun."
That will be followed by the Blue Demon Alumni Classic, also in Chicago, on Feb. 13. The weekend of Feb. 20, the Redbirds will be featured in the Illini Last Chance in Champaign, Ill., and the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
Postseason competition begins with the Missouri Valley Conference Championships in Indianapolis on March 1-2. The women finished runner-up at the conference meet last season, while the men placed third.
"The conference championship is in a new location over in Indianapolis. It's a great venue," said Bovee. "The Big Ten meet is there Friday and Saturday, and we're there Sunday and Monday. I think it's going to provide the conference a way to showcase the talent that we have."
The indoor season concludes with the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., on March 13-14.
The outdoor campaign kicks off with the Washington University Distance Festival in St. Louis on March 26-27. That same weekend, ISU will celebrate Senior Day and host its lone home meet — the Joyce Morton-Kief Invitational — on March 27-28 at the Redbird Outdoor Track & Field Complex.
The Redbirds' April schedule includes meets each weekend, starting with the Pepsi Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla., on April 3–4, and the Illini Deca-Jam in Champaign on April 9–11. ISU will then split squads between the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific University and the Gibson Invitational at Indiana State. The month concludes at the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville.
"The meet in Arkansas will have some great competition with Power 4 schools and give us a chance to preview where the NCAA West Preliminary Round is," said Bovee.
The Redbirds will head back to Champaign for the Gary Weineke Memorial on May 1-2. On May 8, ISU will be featured in the Billy Hayes Invitational in Bloomington, Ind., and once again in Champaign for the Illini Tune-Up.
The outdoor postseason begins with the MVC Championships in Terre Haute on May 16-17. The men and women's squads both finished runner-up at last year's event.
The Redbirds will head back to Fayetteville for the NCAA West Preliminary Round from May 27-30 before qualifying athletes compete at the NCAA Championships hosted by the University of Oregon on June 10-13.
