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Track and Field Announces 2011-12 Schedule
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-Virginia director of track and field/cross country Jason Vigilante announced the 2011-12 indoor and outdoor track and field schedule Wednesday (Oct. 5). The Cavaliers will host five home meets in their brand new track and field facility, including the ACC Outdoor Championships, and compete in seven championship events throughout the campaign.
“Hosting the ACC Championships in our new facility is a dream for me,” Vigilante said. “I can’t thank the many donors who put the resources in to make this track happen, including Amy Griffin and family, our administrators and the many folks who put this track together.
“Having five home competitions is such a benefit primarily because we don’t have to travel as much anymore,” Vigilante continued. “Now we can get ourselves prepared for championships or attain a qualifying time with sleeping in our own beds and never have to get out of our routine. It’s such a benefit to our student-athletes.”
The indoor season beings at the Liberty Kick-Off in Lynchburg, Va., on Dec. 3, 2011, before continuing in 2012 at the Virginia Tech Invitational in Blacksburg, Va., on Jan. 13-14.
The ‘Hoos will split up three ways the weekend of Feb. 10-11, with some competing in the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash., a few traveling to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Tyson Invitational and others heading north to New York City for the Millrose Games.
Boston College will host the ACC Indoor Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track Center in Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 23-25.
The Alex Wilson Invitational (Notre Dame, Ind.) and the VT Final Qualifier (Blacksburg, Va.) will serve as the last tune-ups for the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be hosted by Boise State in Nampa, Idaho March 9-10.
Virginia will unveil its brand new track and field facility March 24 for the outdoor season opener, the UVa Team Swashbuckle.
The Cavaliers will split up the following weekend (March 30-31) for the North Florida Invitational in Jacksonville, Fla., and the Raleigh Relays, before hosting the Lou Onesty Invitational on April 6-7. A few members of the squad will travel to the west coast for the Stanford Invitational that same weekend.
The highlight of the home schedule is the ACC Championships April 19-21, the first time UVa has hosted the conference meet since 2002.
“It’s phenomenal that our young men and women get to compete in our conference championship here,” Vigilante said. “It’s an opportunity to really showcase our talented team in a championship environment for folks in Charlottesville and the people on grounds. We truly believe it will be a championship-caliber track and field facility.”
Following the conference competition, the Cavaliers will travel to Philadelphia for the world-famous Penn Relays, where the men’s 4x800m relay has won the Championship of America each of the last two years.
The Cavaliers will host the UVa Twilight meet on May 1 and will host the Lannigan Last Chance on May 12, while some members of the team will travel to Princeton, N.J., for the IC4A/ECAC Championships (May 11-12).
Virginia will return to Jacksonville for the NCAA East Preliminary Round May 24-26, while Drake (Des Moines, Iowa) will host the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 6-9, the same site where Robby Andrews won his 2011 800m NCAA title.
The 2012 USATF Junior National Championships will be held in Bloomington, Ind., on June 15-17, while Eugene, Ore., will be the host of the US Olympic Team Trials from June 22 to July 1.