Oct. 3, 2012
2012-13 Vanderbilt Indoor & Outdoor Track Schedule
NASHVILLE — Vanderbilt Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach Steve Keith unveiled his 2012-13 indoor and outdoor track schedules on Wednesday, October 3.
The indoor season will open at Clemson on December 1, include the SEC Indoor Championships at Arkansas February 22-24 and conclude with the NCAA Indoor Championships, also in Fayetteville, March 8-9.
The outdoor season will begin with Vanderbilt’s annual Black & Gold Invitational in Nashville March 22-23. The SEC Outdoor Championships will be at Missouri May 9-12, followed by NCAA Preliminary Round action in Greensboro, N.C., May 23-25 and the NCAA Finals in Eugene, Ore., June 5-7.
The indoor season will see Vanderbilt go to some new venues for the Commodores because Arkansas will host the SEC Championships on a banked, 200-meter track.
“We’re going to make more of an emphasis on getting to those tracks,” Keith said. “We open with our usual trip to Kentucky, then Indiana, which fits, as well.”
Keith is extremely excited to be able to work in a trip to New York City February 1-2 to run at the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory.
“It’s a great educational experience for the kids,” Keith said. “It’ll be a great experience, it’s a great meet and it will give us a chance to see a different part of the country and see some different schools.”
Following New York, the Commodores will visit Birmingham, Ala., as a final tune-up for the SEC Championships. Like Indiana and New York, the track in Birmingham is banked.
That leads into the SEC Championships, Last Chance Meets the weekend of March 1-2 and the NCAA Indoor Championships March 8-9.
The outdoor season will begin March 22-23 with the annual Black & Gold Invitational held on campus at Vanderbilt.
Keith expects to have a very solid field of 10-12 Division I teams for the Black & Gold.
“We’ve got some pretty interested teams coming down, so that will be a real nice opener,” Keith said.
The Commodores will then split up the weekend of April 5-6. The distance and middle distance runners will head to William & Mary’s Colonial Relays, with the jumpers, hurdles and sprinters heading to either Auburn of Florida.
Keith is hoping to send a heptathlete to Tennessee’s Sea Ray Relays, as well as some distance runners to the 10K race at the Mt. SAC Relays.
The Commodores host the annual Vanderbilt Invitational, April 19-20, followed by the possibility of some runners going to the historic Penn Relays, April 25-27, pending final exam schedules.
Clemson on May 4 will again serve as a final warm-up for the SEC Outdoor Championships at Missouri, May 9-12.
The NCAA East Preliminary Round will be held at Greensboro, N.C., the same site as 2011, with qualifiers advancing to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 5-8.
