Virginia Releases 2014 Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Schedule
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Oct. 9, 2013
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams announced their 2014 indoor and outdoor meet schedules Wednesday. The Cavaliers’ schedule is highlighted by three home outdoor meets at Lannigan Field.
“Each year we want our schedule to develop along with our program, as we strive to be among the nation’s finest programs,” said head coach Bryan Fetzer. “It allows all event areas to compete in facilities and venues that meet the individual athlete’s needs, as well as the overall development of our team. Our athletes have every opportunity to produce the great results against the nation’s best.”
The outdoor schedule includes three home meets at Lannigan Field, the Virginia Cup on Mar. 22, a tri-meet with California and Michigan on Apr. 5 and the Virginia Challenge on May 9-10.
“We want our home competitions to be community events that produce amazing results for our fans,” said Fetzer. “Our athletes love competing at Lannigan in front of a great running community.”
The indoor season begins on January 11 with the Clemson Invitational. Clemson will also host the ACC Indoor Championships this year, from Feb. 27-Mar. 1. Two weeks later, the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships will be hosted by the University of New Mexico, Mar. 14-15.
The first home meet of the year, the Virginia Cup, is the Cavaliers’ outdoor debut. It features six schools from around the Commonwealth, with Hampton, James Madison, Liberty, Norfolk State and Radford joining Virginia at the meet. The event will also crown “The Fastest Kid in Trackville.”
“It is an incredible four-hour, dual-meet style format meeting featuring local universities,” said Fetzer. “It has been a great way to start our outdoor season in front of a home crowd and will be a great meet again this year.”
The Virginia-California-Michigan tri-meet comes to Charlottesville this year in its second year of existence. The meet made its debut last season in Berkeley.
“This is the second year of a three-year agreement between the three schools,” said Fetzer. “It is an opportunity for three of the nation’s top public academic universities to compete in a head-to-head competition.”
The Cavaliers’ final home meet is the Virginia Challenge that has become known for producing great individual performances. This year’s meet will feature athletes from BYU, Duke, North Carolina and Notre Dame, in addition to other schools, including some from Canadian colleges. The featured event at the meet will once again be a Master Mile.
“The Virginia Challenge is developing into one of the top competitions on the East Coast, if not the country,” said Fetzer. “If you look at last year’s performances, anyone would be impressed.”
North Carolina will host this year’s ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Apr. 17-19. The NCAA East Preliminary Round will be May 29-31 in Jacksonville, Fla., with the top performers advancing to the NCAA Championships, held in Eugene, Ore., June 11-14.