After securing the fourth-straight outdoor Missouri Valley Conference Championships for the ISU women, Illinois State Track & Field announced the release of its 2022-23 indoor and outdoor track & field schedule. In total, the Redbirds are set to compete at 24 regular season meets across the indoor and outdoor campaigns, as well as host three home meets during the regular season and the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships.
Illinois State kicks off the indoor campaign at home as the Redbirds are set to host the John Coughlan Invite on Saturday, Dec. 3 inside Horton Field House. The following weekend, the Redbirds will make a short trip north to Chicago, Illinois for the Blue Demon Holiday Invitational on Friday, Dec. 9.
Following the holiday break, Illinois State will host the annual the Coughlan-Malloy Cup, a dual against Indiana State, on Jan. 14. Illinois State hoisted the Coughlan-Malloy Cup last year for the fourth-straight time after defeating Indiana State in the annual dual. The Redbirds then travel to Iowa City, Iowa, the following weekend to compete at the Larry Wieczorek Invite on Jan. 20-21.
The final weekend of January will see the Redbirds split up and head to Champaign, Illinois, Jan. 27-28 for the Illini Challenge and to Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday, Jan. 28 for the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational hosted by Louisville.
In the first weekend of February, the 'Birds will split up once again sending one squad to the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Indiana and a group of student-athletes will remain in Bloomington-Normal to compete in the Keck Select Invite, hosted by Illinois Wesleyan Feb. 3-4.
The 'Birds will be busy on the weekend of Feb. 10-11, sending student-athletes to three separate meets. ISU will send squads to both the Valentine Invite in Boston and to the Hoosier Hills Invite in Bloomington, Indiana. A group will also remain in Bloomington-Normal to compete at the Titan Open on Feb. 11.
To close out the regular season, the Redbirds will split student-athletes on the weekend of Feb. 17-18, traveling to both the Friday Night Special hosted by Eastern Illinois in Charleston on Friday and the Alex Wilson Invite in South Bend, Indiana on Saturday.
Postseason competition will begin with the MVC Indoor Championships, set for February 26- 27 in Chicago. The Redbird women and men will both look to bounce back from runner-up finishes a year ago. Following the MVC Championships, any student-athletes that meet qualifying standards for the NCAA Indoor Championships will compete in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on March 10-11.
To kick off the outdoor campaign, Illinois State will travel to Charleston, Illinois, to compete in the Big Blue Classic March 24-25 before returning home to host the Redbird Challenges March 31-April 1. The Redbirds will then head to Oxford, Mississippi, to compete in the Joe Walker Invite hosted by Ole Miss from April 7-8.
A small group will then travel out to Walnut, California for the Mt. SAC Relays on April 13-15, with the rest of the team heading to Azusa, California for the Bryan Clay Invitational. The team will then come back to Illinois to travel to Champaign for the final time of the season on April 21-22 for the Gary Wieneke Invitational. That same weekend, a group will travel to Waco, Texas for the Michael Johnson Invitational.
The Redbirds will wrap up the month in Louisville, Kentucky the following weekend April 26-29 at the Clark-Wood Invitational and select standouts will head to Des Moines, Iowa to compete in the prestigious Drake Relays.
For a final tune up before the postseason, the Redbirds will split up to compete in the Billy Hayes Invitational in Bloomington, Indiana and at the Wisconsin Twilight Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin on May 5.
Illinois State will then welcome the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships to Normal from May 12-14, where the ISU women will aim to win their fifth-consecutive outdoor title.
Student-athletes who qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Round will travel to Sacramento, California from May 24-27 to compete for a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The NCAA Outdoor Championships will be held on June 7-10 in Austin, Texas.
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