EDINBURG – The University of Texas-Pan American Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced on Tuesday that the men's and women's track and field teams will open the indoor season on January 16 at the Texas A&M 12-Team Invite and the outdoor season on March 7 at the Border Olympics.
 
Additionally, the Broncs will host their annual Green and White Alumni Meet on Friday, December 5 from 2-6 p.m. at the new UTPA Soccer and Track & Field Complex. The Green and White will serve as a warm up for the team and it gives them the chance to honor their seniors and embrace alumni.
 
"It is certainly an important meet for us," Broncs head coach Xavier Richardson said. "The track and field team looks forward to this competition eagerly every year. It is the first opportunity for those that don't participate in cross country to compete and for everyone to earn some bragging rights before our season begins in January. It is also very important as it gives the community an opportunity to come and see the team in action. It will be fantastic to be able to do so in our brand new facility and to show it off to friends, family and fans of our program."
 
The Broncs will open up their indoor season at the Texas A&M 12-Team Invite on January 16 in College Station before heading to Lubbock for the Masked Rider Open on January 30-31. The Broncs then travel to Houston for the Houston Tune Up on February 13 before competing at the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Championships, hosted by Air Force Academy, on February 26-28.
 
The University of Arkansas will host the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
 
"We've got the team traveling to three different, albeit familiar, venues this indoor season," Richardson said. "It will give them a chance to compete in those different facilities as we prepare for Colorado, which is a venue we've never been to before. They should be well prepared for it when we arrive."
 
The Broncs will open the outdoor season with seven meets in Texas as they open up at the Border Olympics on March 7 in Laredo. They then travel to Corpus Christi for the Islanders Open on March 13-14 before heading to Kingsville for the IBC Bank Cactus Cup on March 21.
 
The Broncs also return to the prestigious Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin while also competing at the Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos on March 25-28. A week later, they competed at the Victor Lopez Bayou Classic, hosted by Rice, before heading to the Islander Dash on April 10-11 in Corpus Christi.
 
"We like to start our outdoor season in our normal comfortable and low-key fashion," Richardson said. "We usually compete in several of the same competitions that we are familiar with as we move towards the heart of our competitive season and work towards conference and the NCAA Championships. Those meets certainly provide some of the in-state competition that makes being in Texas so great. We will have numerous opportunities to test ourselves against many varying programs and will rarely be short of a challenge."
 
The Broncs will make their annual west coast swing on April 16-18 when they compete at the Cal State LA Twilight Open, Mt. Sac Relays and the Long Beach State Invite before heading to Houston on April 25 for the J. Fred Duckett Twilight.
 
"We always look forward to the Mt. Sac Relays weekend," Richardson said. "It gives those that qualify a great chance to compete against our more western competition that we don't see until the preliminary rounds of the NCAAs. It has always treated us very well and we tend to put together some great performances that weekend. Having that competition to sharpen us comes at a great time in our season as we are looking for those NCAA qualifying marks."
 
Utah Valley University will be hosting the WAC Outdoor Championships in Orem, Utah on May 13-16. The University of Texas will host the NCAA West Preliminary Round on May 28-30 while the NCAA Outdoor Championships will be in Eugene, Oregon on June 10-13, hosted by the University of Oregon.
 
"We always aspire to move forward as a program and qualify more for the preliminary rounds," Richardson said. "Qualifying for the NCAA Division I Championships is among the highest honors in college competition. It is why we do what we do. We certainly hope this year to continue to improve as a program and have more competitors there to represent our program and university at that stage."

Support UTPA Track and Field | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow the Broncs on Twitter | Follow the Broncs on Instagram | Follow the Broncs on YouTube