Falcons Release 2012 Track and Field Schedule
9/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Sept. 12, 2011
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Highlighted by 10 home competitions, including the 2012 Mountain West Outdoor Championships, the Air Force track and field team announced its 2012 competition schedule. The Falcons will host five indoor meets at the Cadet Field House and five outdoor meets at the new Cadet Outdoor Track and Field Complex.
2012 Schedule Page | Printable 2012 Schedule 
"Our indoor home meets have become fixtures on their traditional dates, as many teams have made them an annual part of their schedules," head track and field coach Ralph Lindeman said.
The Falcons kick off the 2012 season in December 2011 with the first-ever Blue and Silver Open on Dec. 9. Air Force returns to the Academy on Jan. 13 with the annual All-Comers Meet, before traveling to Nebraska for the Nebraska Wesleyan Open (Jan. 20) and the adidas Classic (Jan. 21). The Falcons will then host the Air Force Indoor Combined Events Meet on Jan. 26-27 and the Air Force Team Challenge on Jan. 28 to close out the first full month of the season.
The Air Force Team Challenge is a reformatted version of the Don Barrett Duals, allowing additional teams to compete at the Academy by using invitational meet scoring.
The month of February begins in Albuquerque, N.M., at the annual New Mexico Classic on Feb. 3-4. The Falcons will wrap up action at the Cadet Field House on Feb. 10-11 at the Air Force Invitational, while select athletes will compete at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash., that weekend. Following the Robert Shine Invitational in Laramie, Wyo., on Feb. 17, the Falcons will return to Albuquerque, N.M., for the 2011 Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 23-25.
The indoor season concludes with the National Qualifying Meet (Mar. 2-3) in South Bend, Ind., and the NCAA Indoor Championships (Mar. 9-10) in Boise, Idaho.
The Falcons open the outdoor season in Arizona, competing at the Arizona State Invitational (Mar. 23-24). Select athletes will travel to the Texas Relays (Austin, Texas) and Stanford Invitational (Palo Alto, Calif.), while the majority of the squad will open the Cadet Outdoor Track and Field Complex on Mar. 31, with the first-ever Pikes Peak Quadrangular. The meet will feature CSU-Pueblo, Colorado-Colorado Springs and Colorado College.
"We are really honored that these institutions have agreed to compete in the inaugural competition on our new facility," Lindeman said of the Falcons' closest collegiate competitors (UCCS, Colorado College and CSU-Pueblo).
April opens with the Falcons at home, hosting the Air Force Outdoor Combined Events Meet (Apr. 5-6) and Air Force Relays (Apr. 7).
"We're excited about this meet," Lindeman continued. "We're hoping for some competitive fields this year and to build the meet with added schools and events in the coming years."
The squad then travels to Boulder, Colo., on Apr. 13-14 for the annual Colorado Invitational, before splitting up for several meets during the week of Apr. 18-21. The multi-event athletes will compete at the Mt. SAC/California Invitational Combined Events Meet on Apr. 18-19 (Azusa, Calif.), while others will compete at the Mt. SAC Relays (Apr. 19-21, Walnut, Calif.), Beach Invitational (Apr. 21, Cerritos, Calif.) and CSU-Pueblo Invitational (Apr. 21, Pueblo, Colo.). The month closes with Air Force competing at the Drake Relays (Apr. 27-28) in Des Moines, Iowa, and at the Jack Christiansen Invitational (Apr. 28) in Fort Collins, Colo.
Air Force will host the fourth annual Front Range Classic with Division I rivals from Colorado, Colorado State, Northern Colorado and Wyoming on May 4, before welcoming the seven conference schools to the Academy on May 9-12 for the 2011 Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
"The competition we're obviously most excited about is hosting the Mountain West Outdoor Championships for the first time since 2002," Lindeman said. "We're hoping the Air Force Academy community and Colorado Springs really support this terrific event."
The 2012 collegiate season concludes with the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The preliminary round will be held May 24-26 (site TBA), while the final round will be held June 6-9 in Des Moines, Iowa. The U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held June 22-July 1 at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
