T&F 2015 Schedule Chock Full of Challenging Meets
Nov 12, 2014 | Track & Field
NEW ORLEANS - With the 2015 track and field season creeping closer to its opening, Tulane track and field director Eric Peterson announced his squad's schedule for the upcoming campaign on Wednesday, and it is full of new, challenging meets for the Green Wave program.
The Green Wave will compete in some of the most elite meets in all of track and field during both the indoor and outdoor campaigns. The Green Wave will compete in the Indiana Relays in Bloomington, Indiana, on Jan. 30-31 during the indoor campaign in addition to taking their talents to the Texas Relays (March 25-28), the Penn Relays (April 24-26), the Drake Relays (April 24-26) and the Stanford Invitational (April 3-4).
Sprinkled in with meets in which the Green Wave have competed in years past, where they have become quite comfortable with the competition, and the 2015 season is sure to be an exciting one for Peterson's teams.
Additionally, the Green Wave will once again host the Tulane Team Challenge on May 2 in Tad Gormley Stadium. The home meet will mark the third-straight season Tulane has held their own meet in New Orleans.
Tulane will kick-off the indoor season at the Birmingham Southern Indoor Icebreaker in Birmingham, Alabama, on Dec. 5. The Green Wave have started their season at the BSC Icebreaker the last three years.
After breaking for the holidays, the Green Wave will truly begin their indoor campaign in early January when they return to Birmingham for two-straight competitions. First, Tulane will compete in the UAB Blazer Invitational on Jan. 9-10 before heading back to Alabama for the UAB Green and Gold Invitational on Jan. 23-24.
At the end of January, Tulane will head north to the prestigious Indiana Relays in Bloomington, Indiana, from Jan. 30-31, before returning to Birmingham for the Samford Multis and Invitational from Feb. 13-14. The last regular-season indoor meet will be close to home, as the Green Wave will travel to Baton Rouge for the LSU Twilight on Feb. 20.
As first-year members of the American Athletic Conference, the Green Wave will compete in their first American Indoor Championships from Feb. 27-28 in New York City. Hoping to extend their championship run, the Green Wave will look forward to the NCAA Indoor Championships from March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Green Wave have qualified student-athletes for the NCAA Indoor National Championships in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013, and 2014.
For those who don't qualify for the NCAA Indoor National Championships, as well as the men's program, the outdoor season begins on March 7, when Tulane will travel to Mobile, Alabama, for the South Alabama Opener, another familiar meet for Tulane. The Green Wave opened the 2014 outdoor season at the South Alabama Opener.
On March 14, Tulane will head a few hours west to Lake Charles, Louisiana, for the McNeese State Invitational before making the trek to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for the Alabama Relays (March 20-21), another meet in which the Green Wave have grown familiar with over the last few years.
The Texas Relays, which will be in its 88th year, will have Tulane representation as the Green Wave will travel to Austin, Texas, for the competition that will be held from March 25-28.
Following a trip to Texas, the Green Wave will make their way to the West Coast when they split to compete at both the Stanford Invitational and the San Francisco State Distance Carnival from April 3-4. Tulane competed in both meets during the same weekend last season, posting solid results at both competitions.
After staying on the Gulf Coast for three-straight competitions - the South Alabama Invitational in Gulf Shores, Alabama (April 10-11), the Southeastern Louisiana Invitational in Hammond, Louisiana (April 17), and the LSU Alumni Gold in Baton Rouge (April 18) - the team will split once again, with groups heading to two top-notch meets.
The Green Wave will send some student-athletes to the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, while others will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Drake Relays. The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, having originated in 1895. The Drake Relays started just a few years later in 1910, and hundreds of Olympic gold medalists have competed there. Both meets will be held from April 24-26. Tulane last sent competitors to the Drake Relays in 2012.
After Tulane hosts their home meet on May 2, the Green Wave will close out the regular season portion of their schedule at the Florida State Twilight in Tallahassee, Florida, on May 8.
Tulane will once again travel north to start their championship schedule, as the American Outdoor Championships will be hosted by UConn in Storrs, Connecticut, from May 14-17.
As in recent years, Tulane will look to qualify for the NCAA East Regionals, to be held on May 28-30 in Jacksonville, Florida, before hopefully competing at the NCAA National Championships in Eugene, Oregon, from June 11-14.
Fans can follow the Tulane track and field programs on Twitter (@GreenWaveXCTF) or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TulaneXCTF.
