UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Head coach and director of Penn State track & field John Gondak has announced the 2019 indoor and outdoor schedules for the Nittany Lions. Penn State is set to host five meets in 2019, which includes four meets during the indoor season at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
"The schedule we have put together for Penn State track & field has all of our coaches excited for what lies ahead," Gondak said. "We have a great balance of home competitions along with being on the road to attend the best track meets around the country. The way you prepare for a Big Ten and NCAA Championship is to challenge yourself during the regular season and we all believe our schedule accomplishes this task."
Penn State opens the 2019 indoor season with the Nittany Lion Challenge on Jan. 12. Following the season-opening meet, Penn State heads to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the Simmons Harvey Invite, Jan. 19, to get a preview of the facility for 2019 Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships.
The Nittany Lions then return home to Happy Valley to host back-to-back meets, which includes the National Open (Jan. 25-26) and the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup (Feb. 2).
After the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup, the following weekend, Feb. 8-9, features the Blue & White traveling to three meets across the nation. On the weekend, Penn State travels to Clemson for the Tiger Paw Invite, Iowa State for the Iowa State Classic and the University of Washington for the Husky Classic.
The Nittany Lions host their final indoor meet of the regular season, the Penn State Tune-Up, on Feb. 16 before postseason competition gets underway.
As mentioned earlier, the 2019 Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships are hosted by the University of Michigan, Feb. 22-23. The 2019 indoor season concludes with the NCAA Championships, March 8-9, in Birmingham, Alabama.
"We will be competing at some new locations we are excited about this year and we will have the Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships back to a campus location which will provide a great atmosphere for the event. We also return to competitions that have treated us with some great performances over the years. Overall, our schedule for the 2019 season is going to allow us to provide our student-athletes with a great experience in the Penn State uniform."
The 2019 outdoor season gets underway for the Nittany Lions with a trip out west to Tempe, Arizona, for the Big Ten vs. Pac-12 Challenge, March 22-23.
Following the opening weekend in Arizona, Penn State heads south to Florida and back out west to Stanford. The second weekend of the outdoor season features the Florida Relays, March 28-30, and the Stanford Invite, March 29.
The Nittany Lions will split squads once again with a trip to Princeton, New Jersey, for the Sam Howell Invite, April 5-6, and the LSU Battle on the Bayou, April 6.
Penn State then makes the quick trip to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, for the Bucknell Classic on April 13-14.
The Nittany Lions then travel to the Virginia Challenge on April 19-20, while also sending student-athletes to the Bucknell Team Challenge on April 20.
Penn State's outdoor schedule wouldn't be complete without a trip to Philadelphia for the annual Penn Relays at Franklin Field, April 25-27.
The final meet of the 2019 outdoor regular season for the Blue & White will be the Jim Thorpe Open on May 3 at the Nittany Lion Outdoor Track.
Championship season gets underway with the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, May 10-12.
Penn State student-athletes that are qualified for the NCAA East Prelims will advance to Jacksonville, Florida, May 23-25.
The 2019 NCAA season concludes with the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas, June 5-8.
The Nittany Lion men are coming off a top-10 finish during the indoor season and a top-25 finish during the outdoor season. Along with PSU men, the Penn State women finished in the top-25 during the outdoor season.
The Nittany Lions were only the Big Ten program to have both teams finish in the top-25 at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.