Sept. 18, 2009
INDOOR MEET INFORMATION
College Station - Texas A&M will host five collegiate meets during the 2010 indoor track and field season, highlighted by a dual meet with the Texas Longhorn men and women as well as a three-conference challenge featuring nationally-ranked teams from the Big 12, SEC and Pac-10.
The dual meet with Texas will take place on Saturday, January 23. This meet christened the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium last season as the Aggies defeated Texas men and Tennessee women in a three-hour dual meet setting. This time both the Longhorn men and women will be competing against Texas A&M.
"It is great to have both men and women teams from Texas this year for our dual meet," Aggie head coach Pat Henry said. "I think the dual meet is great for the sport and I know it is great for the fans. It's a short time schedule and a great competition to watch.
"We had a big crowd last year, with a lot of student participation and I think with both Texas teams in the building this year it makes for an even better environment for fans of the sport. In making this an annual competition, the Texas A&M - Texas Dual will help our sport."
After hosting Big 12 and NCAA Indoor Championships during the inaugural year of the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium - McFerrin Athletic Center last season, Henry sought to create a home meet equal to the level of the conference and national meets previously held on the Aggie campus.
The Texas A&M Challenge, set for January 29-30, will bring together top-ranked teams from the Big 12, SEC and Pac-10 conferences. Squads from the Big 12 are the host Aggies, Texas and Baylor. From the SEC there is Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina. Teams representing the Pac-10 are defending NCAA indoor champions Oregon, Stanford and Washington State.
"This has the potential of being the best meet we have ever attended during the regular season," Henry noted. "The teams from those three conferences attending represent the best the sport has to offer. We will be able to showcase great teams as well as great track and field conferences. With only nine institutions it will also allow for another time schedule that is fan friendly."
The collegiate track and field indoor season will start in December for A&M when they host four schools at the 10-event Reveille Invitational on Dec. 12. Then on January 16, the Texas A&M Invitational will host 16 schools - including Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas and TCU - among a field of Division I teams from the state of Texas.
Following the Texas A&M - Texas Dual meet and the first three-conference challenge, the Aggies will host another set of eight schools for a Texas A&M Challenge featuring the Big 12, SEC and Conference USA.
Big 12 schools in the second A&M Challenge will include the Aggies, Texas and Texas Tech. From the SEC squads include Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, who won the women's NCAA indoor title in College Station last season. Conference USA will be represented by Houston, Rice and UTEP.
"This meet will be very competitive and with the conferences attending it allows for six Texas institutions to compete close to home, which helps the sport," Henry said. "Having the SEC and defending indoor national champion Tennessee makes for tremendous completion."
The remainder of the Texas A&M indoor schedule includes a trip to New York City for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the Armory on February 5-6. Iowa State will host the Big 12 Conference meet in Ames, Iowa, on February 26-27. The NCAA Indoor Championships return to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and will be held on March 12-13.
In enjoying a second season with its on-campus facility the Aggies will also host a high school invitational during the first weekend of January on the 8th and 9th.
"For the state of Texas and our high school athletes I believe this could become the finest indoor meet in the country," Henry said. "High school track in Texas is great - this could help make it even better. It's about having an opportunity and this gives a lot of young athletes another opportunity to showcase their athletic abilities.
"Indoor track and field is a big sport around this country - it has now come to Texas."