BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The Campbell University track & field program announced its schedule for the 2017-18 indoor and outdoor seasons on Thursday. The Fighting Camels will host the annual Campbell Open on April 6-7 at Irwin Belk Track in Buies Creek.
"The schedule is very similar to last year's," said head coach
Michael Kelly. "The group that is going to the bigger national meets is growing as the team gets better. There's plenty of good local competition, but every year we have more athletes competing at a national level. This year, we will have more athletes traveling to those meets than usual."
Kelly continued, "I'm excited for the conference meet. Every year, the team is better and better and we're chipping away and getting closer to taking home a title. That's definitely on all of our minds and one of the goals we want to achieve. It's no easy task, but I think we have the group to do it."
The schedule features 12 indoor meets and 14 outdoor competitions, including the Big South Championship for both seasons.
For the second straight season, Campbell will open up the 2017-18 indoor season at the UNCG Early Bird Duals on Dec. 3 at the JDL FastTrack in Winston-Salem, N.C. In addition,
Meshack Kipruto will compete in the 5000m at the Boston Season Opener on Dec. 2.
"I'm excited to open up the season this weekend and see what kind of shape the newcomers are in. It's good to have this early meet to feed their hunger for competition. It'll hopefully keep them motivated through Christmas break to know where they're at and where they need to be come January," said Kelly.
CU will return to the JDL FastTrack three more times during the indoor season, competing in the Camel City Invitational from Feb. 2-3, JDL College Team Challenge on Feb. 8 and UCS Invitational from Feb. 16-17.
Following the season-opener in Winston-Salem, N.C., the Fighting Camels will compete in the Clemson Orange & Purple Invite on Jan. 6. CU will then hit the road to compete at the ETSU Indoor Track & Field Invitational from Jan. 13-14 and VMI Invite from Jan. 19-20.
The Camels will split up during the following weekend, with some athletes competing at the Camel City Invite and others participating in the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind. CU will then send athletes to Albuquerque, N.M., and Ames, Iowa, from Feb. 9-10 for the Don Kirby Invitational and Iowa State Classic.
Campbell will then begin postseason competition at the Big South Indoor Championship from Feb. 23-24 in Lynchburg, Va. The indoor season will conclude with the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held in College Station, Texas, on March 9-10.
On the same weekend, the Camels will open up the 2018 outdoor season at the UNCW Seahawk Invite in Wilmington, N.C. Campbell will then compete at the 49er Classic in Charlotte, N.C., from March 16-17 and the Weems Baskins Invitational in Columbia, S.C., from March 23-24.
CU will then split up for the weekend of March 30-31, with athletes competing in both the Raleigh Relays and Stanford Invite. After hosting the Campbell Open on April 6-7, the Camels will return to competition at the Gamecock Invite in Columbia, S.C., on April 13.
From April 19-21, Campbell will send athletes to four different meets, including the Mt. Sac Relay (April 19-21) in Torrance, Calif., the Duke Invite (April 20-21) in Durham, N.C., the Virginia Challenge (April 20-21) in Charlottesville, Va., and the South Florida Collegiate (April 21) in Tampa, Fla.
In the final weekend of the regular season, the Camels will participate in the Liberty Twilight in Lynchburg, Va., on May 2 and the Payton Jordan Invite in Palo Alto, Calif., on May 3.
The Big South Outdoor Championships will take place from May 10-12 in High Point, N.C. Campbell will then send its qualifiers to the NCAA East Regionals in Tampa, Fla., from May 24-27 with the hope of making it to the NCAA Championship Finals in Eugene, Ore., from June 6-9.
For the latest information about Campbell track & field, make sure to follow @GoCamelsRun on Twitter.
