University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Announce 2016 Track Schedule
10/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
2016 Schedule | 2016 Schedule 
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota women's track & field team has released its 2016 indoor and outdoor competition schedule. The indoor schedule is made up of nine meets, including four home meets at the U of M Fieldhouse. Meanwhile, the outdoor schedule has the Gophers traveling to 17 different meets in 12 states.
"Indoor, it's kind of our traditional schedule," director of women's track & field and cross country Matt Bingle said. "The big highlight of the indoor season is hosting the Minnesota-Wisconsin Dual. It's a rivalry, and we want to make sure everybody understands that. We're really going to highlight that meet and, of course, the Jack Johnson Classic as well."
The indoor schedule includes seven regular-season meets before the Gophers head to the Big Ten Championships in Geneva, Ohio, (Feb. 26-27) and the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala., (March 11-12).
Four home meets highlight the indoor season, starting with the Minnesota Open on Friday, Jan. 16, followed by the second-annual Minnesota-Wisconsin Dual (Jan. 23). The other home meets include the Jack Johnson Classic (Jan. 29-30) and the Parents Day Invite (Feb. 20).
"We're very excited about hosting the Minnesota-Wisconsin Dual at our place," Bingle said. "We want to make it a great event. We plan to recognize our 2006 Big Ten Championship team, and it's going to be an exciting weekend."
The Gophers will also compete at the Meyo Invite hosted by Notre Dame (Feb. 5-6), the St. Thomas Invite (Feb. 12) and the Iowa State Classic (Feb. 12-13) to complete the indoor regular season.
The Gophers' 2016 outdoor track & field schedule begins with a meet at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Ala., during spring break. The competition is then followed by three other out-of-state meets when the team travels to the Raleigh Relays (March 25-26), the UCLA Legends of Track & Field Invite (April 1-2) and the Arizona State Sun Angel Invitational (April 8-9), which are all new meets for the Gophers.
"We have some new meets on the outdoor schedule this year, which we're excited about," Bingle said. "We go to Arizona State, UCLA, and Virginia. The whole team will travel to Arizona State and Virginia, so those will be big, competitive meets for us. The other meets will be split for the most part."
The Gophers compete locally in six meets at Hamline, Concordia St. Paul, Macalester, St. Thomas and UW-Lacrosse to prepare for other events throughout the season.
A highlight for the Minnesota multi-event competitors is the Mt. Sac Relays (April 15-16) before the entire team travels to Virginia (April 22-23). The Drake Relays (April 28-30) and Kansas Invitational (April 30) also highlight a busy April for the Gophers.
It's going to be a competitive schedule," Bingle said. "We're going to go up against some nice competition, particularly at Virginia and UCLA. The Kansas meet will also be a big meet, so I think the competition we'll face this year is turned up a notch from last year. That will be good for the team because we want to make sure they're challenged. They also get to see some new places and teams, and we're looking forward to that."
The 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Championships will take place May 13-15 at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb. The Gophers are led by returning All-Big Ten honorees Jess Herauf, Emerald Egwim, Erin Hawkins, Titania Markland and Nicolle Murphy.
"The Big Ten meet is always where we want to shine," Bingle said. "It's nice that it's closer to home this year. I hope we'll get some more support there and families can travel. I like how the schedule looks. I like that it's competitive and a little bit different. We're excited about the opportunities ahead."
Following the B1G Championship, the NCAA postseason begins with first round competition May 26-28 in Lawrence, Kan., at Kansas. Oregon will then host the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships (June 8-11) in Eugene, Ore. The USA Junior & Senior Championships will also be held in Eugene, Ore., following the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
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