Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Wes Kittley announced Monday the official schedule of meets Texas Tech will host during the 2019 indoor track and field season.
The indoor schedule will be highlighted by the Jan. 25-26 Texas Tech Invitational, which is set to be the most prestigious meet in the nation that weekend. Visiting Lubbock will be three of last year’s top-five indoor national championship men’s teams, including defending champions Florida, along with indoor runners-up USC and fifth-place Texas A&M. Florida and USC also finished top-seven on the women’s side, too.
“The Texas Tech Invitational should be the most incredible meet we have ever hosted here at Texas Tech,” said Kittley. “The best teams in the country will be competing at the best facility in the NCAA. It will be so much fun.”
Kittley credits the newly-opened Sports Performance Center – the facility he believes finally matches the caliber of the program he has built at Tech – as the main contributor to putting together such a prestigious meet.
“I believe the SPC is the finest track and field facility in the country,” Kittley said. “The track itself has proven in just one year that it is the fastest in the country. Also, with our field event venues being so fan-friendly, it is an awesome place to watch a meet.”
Now entering his 20th season at the helm of Texas Tech track and field, Kittley is determined to improve on a 2018 season that could very well be considered his most dominant yet.
2018 saw the Tech men’s team sweep both the indoor and outdoor Big 12 Championships while racking up 11 All-Americans in the process while also crowning the program’s first-ever national champion sprinter, Divine Oduduru, who won the outdoor 200m championship. The men’s squad finished sixth at last year’s NCAA Indoor Championships.
“Our men’s team has gotten taste of being a top team in the NCAA, and now it is time for us to take the next step,” Kittley said. “This team could turn out to be something special.”
The women’s team enters after a standout year as well, during which they named three All-Americans and three Big 12 Outdoor champions.
“In all the years I’ve been here, this team has the biggest potential to be the best team we’ve ever had,” Kittley said of the women’s squad. “This women’s team has an opportunity to do things like they’ve never done before.”
The full schedule of meets for Tech’s 2019 indoor campaign is below.
Date Meet
Jan. 12 Texas Tech Corky Classic
Jan. 18-19 Red Raider Invite & Under Armour High School Classic
Jan. 24-25 Texas Tech Invitational
Feb. 1-2 Texas Tech Open
Feb. 8-9 Texas Tech Shootout
Feb. 15 Texas Tech Matador Qualifier
COURTESY OF TEXAS TECH ATHLETICS
