Track & Field Announces 2009-10 Indoor and Outdoor Schedule

Nov. 5, 2009

CLEMSON, SC – The track & field schedule was announced by Head Coach Lawrence Johnson on Thursday. Eight home meets are included on the 2009-10 indoor and outdoor slate, highlighted by the ACC Outdoor Championships at the school’s Rock Norman Track from April 15-17.

“We’re excited about our schedule,” Johnson said. “We have a fantastic indoor facility, so we decided to host some more meets and really showcase that a little bit more.”

After a one-year hiatus, Clemson will once again open the indoor season with a home meet the first weekend of December. The Roaring Tiger Opener will be Friday, Dec. 4 at the school’s indoor facility. It will be the first of five indoor home meets for the Clemson track & field program. The school will also host the Clemson Invitational (Jan. 8-9), Clemson Games (Jan. 29-30), Tiger Paw Invitational (Feb. 12-13), and the Tiger Tuneup (Feb. 20).

The Tigers will also make three trips to Blacksburg, VA during the 2010 indoor season. The first competition at Rector Field House will be at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Jan. 15-16. Clemson will also return for the Virginia Tech Elite Meet on Feb. 5-6 and the ACC Championships from Feb. 25-27. It marks the second straight season the indoor league meet will be held in Blacksburg. Last season, the Clemson women finished third at the ACC Indoor Championships.

The NCAA Indoor Championships will be held Mar. 12-13 in Fayetteville, AR at the Randal Tyson Track Complex.

The outdoor season gets underway Mar. 19-20 with the Clemson Relays. Following the outdoor opener, the teams travel to Atlanta for the Yellow Jacket Invitational (Mar. 27), then to Gainesville, FL for the Florida Relays (Apr. 2-3) and Knoxville, TN for the Sea Ray Relays (Apr. 9-10).

The ACC Outdoor Championships return to Clemson for the first time since 1999. The meet will run Thursday through Saturday at a renovated Rock Norman Track. The facility will have a new look in 2010. The 10-lane track was resurfaced in the fall, and plans also call for a new awning as well as wrought iron fencing.

“We’re excited to have an opportunity on a track that’s been resurfaced,” Johnson said. “The improvements the athletic department has made will be tremendous by the time we host the ACC outdoor meet.”

The Tigers close out the month of April once again at the historic Penn Relays in Philadelphia, PA. Clemson will compete in back-to-back meets in May, first in Atlanta for a three-way meet with Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State (May 1) and then at home for the Orange & Purple Classic (May 7-8).

Following the Georgia Tech Invitational on May 14-15, the Tigers will compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Greensboro, NC on May 27-29. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) elected to eliminate the four-region format that had been used since 2003 to determine qualifiers for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The 2010 season will feature two preliminary sites, East and West, to determine participants for the outdoor national meet.

The 2010 outdoor national meet will take place in Eugene, OR from June 9-12. This is the first time since 2001 that the University of Oregon has served as host to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The school’s Hayward Field was the host site for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials.

The schedule concludes with the 2010 USA Track & Field Junior and Senior National Championships, held June 23-27 in Des Moines, IA. The four-day meet will be held at Drake Stadium.

2009-10 Clemson Track & Field Schedule