411OnTheForty: Track and field starts season Saturday with Longhorn Invitational
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas track and field team will be battle-tested this spring, with an outdoor schedule that features nine regular-season meets and as many as three postseason competitions.
The slate, which was released Monday, features four home meets, highlighted by the Texas Relays from March 25-27. It will be the 93rd running of the notable meet, and will resume after being canceled last season for the first time since 1935.
The Longhorns kick off the schedule by hosting the Longhorn Invitational this Saturday, March 6, followed by a March 19 road trip to the UTSA Invitational. Sticking out on the slate is an April 3 dual meet against in-state rival Texas A&M at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
April features trips to Oxford, Miss., for the Joe Walker Invitational at Ole Miss, to Waco, Texas, for the Michael Johnson Invitational and to Baton Rouge, La., for the LSU Alumni Gold before the Horns return for the final home meet of 2021, the Texas Invitational.
Postseason competition begins May 14-16 with the Big 12 Championships. Kansas State will host the event in Manhattan, Kansas.
Texas will not have to leave the Lone Star State for the NCAA West Prelims, which will be hosted May 27-29 by Texas A&M. The Longhorns will be familiar with the Aggies' track by that point, having competed May 8 at the Aggie Invitational.
The NCAA Outdoor Championships, which were hosted by Texas in 2019 and canceled in 2020, will return June 9-12 to Eugene, Ore., on the campus of the University of Oregon.
In the most recent rankings by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), which were released Monday, the Texas women's team held its spot at No. 3, while the Longhorn men remained No. 11 for the third straight week.
