Head track and field coach Fred Harvey announced the 2013 Arizona men’s and women’s track and field schedule on Wednesday.
The Wildcats’ indoor season will begin Jan. 12 in Flagstaff, Ariz. at the Lumberjack Invitational.
Arizona will then compete in four meets, before traveling to Seattle for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on Feb. 22 and 23. Following the MPSF, the Wildcats will make a second trip to Fayetteville, Ark. for the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held on March 8 and 9.
Both the men’s and women’s teams have a few athletes with a solid chance of making the NCAA.
Georganne Moline, Julie Labonté and Brigetta Barrett on the women’s team, and Nick Ross, Lawi Lalang and Stephen Sambu on the men’s team are expected to make an impact this upcoming track season.
Arizona will open its outdoor season by hosting the Willie Williams Classic at Roy P. Drachman stadium on March 15 and 16. The team will host two more meets during the outdoor season, the Jim Click Shootout from April 4 to 6 and the Tucson Elite Classic May 16 to 18. The team will compete in 3 other meets during the season, all on the West Coast.
Moline went undefeated in every event she competed in last season until the NCAA Championships, where she fell in the preliminary round. However, she was able to rebound and finish fifth overall in the 400-meter hurdles race at the Olympics this summer.
“My goal for the season is to go undefeated,” Moline said. “I want to win the NCAA Championship and set all the school and national records.”
Barrett enters the season as a two-time NCAA indoor and outdoor champion. She most notably won the silver medal in the high jump this summer at the Olympic games.
Labonté won the 2011 NCAA indoor and outdoor championships and represented her home country of Canada this summer in the Olympics, claiming 22nd place overall in the shot put.
For the men, senior Nick Ross and junior Lawi Lalang lead the team. Last season Ross claimed the NCAA indoor high jump championship, the first in UA men’s history. Ross was the NCAA West Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year and earned a bronze medal at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the high jump.
In 2012, Lalang claimed the NCAA Indoor Championship in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter races. He also earned All-American accolades during the outdoor season in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters.
“This summer I’ve been working on finishing strong,” Lalang said. “The last 30 seconds of a race are very important. I’m ready to win the championship this year.”
The Pac-12 Championship’s combined events are set for May 4 and 5 at USC in Los Angeles, CA. The season will conclude with the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The first round (west preliminaries) will be held in Austin, Texas, from May 23 to 25 and then the finals of the NCAA Outdoor Championships will be June 5 to 8 in Eugene, Ore.
