Nov. 23, 2011

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By Miquel Jacobs
Assistant Media Relations Director

2012 Schedule
2012 Schedule (Printable)

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina head coach Curtis Frye has released a 2012 track & field schedule that includes four home meets – two indoor and two outdoor – to be held at the USC Fieldhouse and the Weems Baskin Track. The 2012 season marks the 10th anniversary of the women’s outdoor track and field team that won the first NCAA team title in the history of South Carolina athletics.

The Gamecocks open their season January 13-14 with their annual season-opening trip to Blacksburg, Va., to compete in the Virginia Tech Invitational. The team will then travel to Birmingham, Ala., to compete in the Auburn Invitational on Saturday, January 21, in one of the first meets to be run at the new Crossplex facility.

South Carolina will host its first meet of the season on Wednesday, January 25 with the South Carolina Indoor Meet to be held at the USC Fieldhouse. Two days later the team will compete at the Rod McCravy Invitational on the campus of the University of Kentucky for their first look at the Nutter Fieldhouse that will host the SEC Indoor Championships.

The month of February holds the “championship season” according to Coach Frye with trips to national meets in New York City (New Balance Invitational) and Fayetteville, Ark. (Tyson Invitational) beginning the month in addition to two in-state meets (Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson and the Gamecock Invitational at the USC Fieldhouse) before the team competes at the SEC Indoor Championships from February 24-26 in Lexington, Ky. The NCAA Indoor Championships will be hosted by Boise State University for the first time with the meet taking place from March 9-10 at the Jackson Indoor Track Facility at the Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho.

The outdoor season begins with two straight weekends in the Palmetto State as the team competes at the Shamrock Invitational in Conway before hosting the Weems Baskin Invite on Saturday, March 24 at the Weems Baskin Track. South Carolina will then travel to Jacksonville, Fla., the weekend of March 30-31 to compete at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida. Hodges Stadium will serve as the host site of the 2012 NCAA East Preliminary Round, giving the Gamecocks the opportunity to compete and become familiar with the track before competing at nationals.

The final home meet of the season will be run on Wednesday, April 4 when South Carolina hosts the Gamecock Open Meet at the Weems Baskin Track. Trips to Gainesville (Florida Relays, April 6-7) and Athens (Spec Towns Invitational, April 13-14) precede a visit to Franklin Field in the 118th running of the Penn Relays from April 26-28.

The SEC Outdoor Championships will be held May 11-13 in Baton Rouge, La., with the NCAA East Preliminary Round being run May 24-26 in Jacksonville, Fla. The NCAA Outdoor Championships return to Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, with the Gamecocks looking to earn their final titles of the season from June 6-9.