Texas Tech University Athletics
Kittley Unveils 2021 Schedule
November 24, 2020 | Track and Field
Texas Tech announces 2021 indoor and outdoor slate.
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Wes Kittley announced Tuesday the 2021 indoor and outdoor track and field schedule.
The Red Raiders will begin the winter with five straight home meets leading into the Tech-hosted Big 12 Indoor Championships. The season will get underway with the annual Corky Classic on Jan. 16. The following weekend, Tech will host the Red Raider Invitational on Jan. 23. The annual Texas Tech Invitational & Multis will run Jan. 29-30. After a week off, the Red Raiders will host the Texas Tech Shootout on Feb. 12-13. One last chance at conference qualifying marks will come Feb. 19 with the one-day Matador Qualifier.
"We're going to have five really good meets at home," said Kittley. "Each meet will have about eight great teams at our facility each week. We're going to be bringing in some of the best Power-5 teams in the country. It's going to prepare us well."
On Feb. 26-27, the Sports Performance Center will play host to its second Big 12 Indoor Championship meet. The last time the Big 12 Championships came to Lubbock, in 2019, Tech's men's team smashed the conference record for points in a title meet with a staggering 179 as they rolled to the most dominant win in conference history. The women's squad racked up 108.5 – a record for the program – to finish second.
"I'm so excited to bring our Big 12 schools back here again," Kittley said. "Two years ago, nearly every [Big 12 Conference Championship meet] record was broken on this track. The large radius and wide lines make a huge difference, and when you combine that with the great teams the Big 12 has, you're going to get championship results."
The NCAA Indoor Championships will take place March 12-13 at the University of Arkansas. It was going into last year's indoor national meet the NCAA announced spring championships were canceled, meaning this season's indoor title meet will be the first the Red Raiders have competed in in two years.
"We were in Albuquerque for the national meet when the NCAA canceled it," said Kittley. "It was disheartening for everyone who had made it there, but we have a lot of those kids back. We're going to be prepared well for when we get back there."
Last season's cancelation of spring sports means Texas Tech's men will enter the 2021 outdoor season reigning national champions. The Red Raiders scored 60 points in Austin in 2019 to claim the first national title in any men's sport in school history. Following the meet, Kittley was named USTFCCCA Men's Coach of the Year, while Calvin Robinson was voted USTFCCCA Men's Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with the sprints group.
Per usual, the outdoor campaign will begin at Kittley's alma mater, Abilene Christian, with the aptly-named Wes Kittley Invitational from March 19-20. Most of the team can be expected to open up at the March 24-27 Texas Relays in Austin. April 2-3 will offer a small meet in Canyon, the West Texas A&M Invitational. Tech will return home the following weekend for the April 9-10 Masked Rider Open before heading to Waco for the Baylor-hosted Michael Johnson Invitational from April 16-17. That same weekend, a portion of the squad will split off and compete at the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.
April 23-24 will offer a new addition the Tech schedule has not seen in recent years – a regular season meet at the University of Oklahoma. Tech will compete at the John Jacobs Invitational that weekend before honoring the program's seniors April 30-May 1 at the Corky/Crofoot Shootout.
The 2021 Big 12 Outdoor Championships will take place May 14-16 in Manhattan, Kan. Originally set to take place in Lubbock, the conference agreed to present the meet to Kansas State after they missed their chance to host last season.
"We have a really good indoor team, but our team is really made for outdoors," said Kittley. "We add in the 400m hurdles, relays, discus, javelin and more. Our outdoor team is special and I'm excited to see them compete."
From May 27-29, Tech will seek outdoor qualifying spots at the NCAA West Preliminary, set to take place this year at Texas A&M. The NCAA Outdoor Championships will take place June 9-12 in Eugene, Ore.
Attendance Information
Much like other Texas Tech events, indoor track and field will also operate at 25 percent capacity. Based on this percentage, the Sports Performance Center will have an all-inclusive capacity of 750. Ticket sale availability will fluctuate each meet based on the total number of student-athlete participants, coaches, officials, volunteers and pass list quantities.
Schedule drop coming in ?????? ??
— Texas Tech Track & Field (@TexasTechTF) November 24, 2020
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The Red Raiders will begin the winter with five straight home meets leading into the Tech-hosted Big 12 Indoor Championships. The season will get underway with the annual Corky Classic on Jan. 16. The following weekend, Tech will host the Red Raider Invitational on Jan. 23. The annual Texas Tech Invitational & Multis will run Jan. 29-30. After a week off, the Red Raiders will host the Texas Tech Shootout on Feb. 12-13. One last chance at conference qualifying marks will come Feb. 19 with the one-day Matador Qualifier.
"We're going to have five really good meets at home," said Kittley. "Each meet will have about eight great teams at our facility each week. We're going to be bringing in some of the best Power-5 teams in the country. It's going to prepare us well."
On Feb. 26-27, the Sports Performance Center will play host to its second Big 12 Indoor Championship meet. The last time the Big 12 Championships came to Lubbock, in 2019, Tech's men's team smashed the conference record for points in a title meet with a staggering 179 as they rolled to the most dominant win in conference history. The women's squad racked up 108.5 – a record for the program – to finish second.
"I'm so excited to bring our Big 12 schools back here again," Kittley said. "Two years ago, nearly every [Big 12 Conference Championship meet] record was broken on this track. The large radius and wide lines make a huge difference, and when you combine that with the great teams the Big 12 has, you're going to get championship results."
The NCAA Indoor Championships will take place March 12-13 at the University of Arkansas. It was going into last year's indoor national meet the NCAA announced spring championships were canceled, meaning this season's indoor title meet will be the first the Red Raiders have competed in in two years.
"We were in Albuquerque for the national meet when the NCAA canceled it," said Kittley. "It was disheartening for everyone who had made it there, but we have a lot of those kids back. We're going to be prepared well for when we get back there."
Last season's cancelation of spring sports means Texas Tech's men will enter the 2021 outdoor season reigning national champions. The Red Raiders scored 60 points in Austin in 2019 to claim the first national title in any men's sport in school history. Following the meet, Kittley was named USTFCCCA Men's Coach of the Year, while Calvin Robinson was voted USTFCCCA Men's Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with the sprints group.
Per usual, the outdoor campaign will begin at Kittley's alma mater, Abilene Christian, with the aptly-named Wes Kittley Invitational from March 19-20. Most of the team can be expected to open up at the March 24-27 Texas Relays in Austin. April 2-3 will offer a small meet in Canyon, the West Texas A&M Invitational. Tech will return home the following weekend for the April 9-10 Masked Rider Open before heading to Waco for the Baylor-hosted Michael Johnson Invitational from April 16-17. That same weekend, a portion of the squad will split off and compete at the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.
April 23-24 will offer a new addition the Tech schedule has not seen in recent years – a regular season meet at the University of Oklahoma. Tech will compete at the John Jacobs Invitational that weekend before honoring the program's seniors April 30-May 1 at the Corky/Crofoot Shootout.
The 2021 Big 12 Outdoor Championships will take place May 14-16 in Manhattan, Kan. Originally set to take place in Lubbock, the conference agreed to present the meet to Kansas State after they missed their chance to host last season.
"We have a really good indoor team, but our team is really made for outdoors," said Kittley. "We add in the 400m hurdles, relays, discus, javelin and more. Our outdoor team is special and I'm excited to see them compete."
From May 27-29, Tech will seek outdoor qualifying spots at the NCAA West Preliminary, set to take place this year at Texas A&M. The NCAA Outdoor Championships will take place June 9-12 in Eugene, Ore.
Attendance Information
Much like other Texas Tech events, indoor track and field will also operate at 25 percent capacity. Based on this percentage, the Sports Performance Center will have an all-inclusive capacity of 750. Ticket sale availability will fluctuate each meet based on the total number of student-athlete participants, coaches, officials, volunteers and pass list quantities.
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