ORLANDO – The UCF track and field team has announced its 2024 indoor schedule, highlighted by the program's inaugural Big 12 Championship at Texas Tech in late February. Nine regular-season meets over the span of five weekends will precede the historical occasion in Lubbock, Texas, from Feb. 23-24.
For the first time under head coach Dana Boone, the Knights will split up to open the 2024 campaign, with the distance and jump squads making their return to the Jimmy Carnes Invitational Jan. 12 in Gainesville, Florida, while sprints will embark on the Rod McCravy Memorial Invite from Jan. 12-13. The Alachua County Sports & Events Center at Celebration Pointe, which opened earlier this year, will mark the only in-state meet of the season for UCF. Last season, 11 student-athletes set personal records, a performance that set the tone for the team's second consecutive American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship.
In Louisville, Kentucky, the likes of Rayniah Jones and Latasha Smith will make their first appearance at the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center, which opened in 2021.
The next weekend, the distance squad will join the sprint group at the Corky Classic in Lubbock. A previous trip to the facility earlier this year, paired with a strong performance in 2022, serve as vital preparation for the conference indoor championship, hosted at the Sports Performance Center.
Assistant coach Glenn Smith and the field group will spend the weekend at the two-day Vanderbilt Invitational from Jan. 19-20. Both Holly Cassels and Natalia Madison set personal records in the pentathlon last season, before later breaking them again at the indoor championship in Birmingham, Alabama.
Currently, in his first cross country season as distance coach, Bryan Harmon and company will travel to Clemson for the Bob Pollack Invitational from Jan. 26-27. February gets started with the sprint and field squad’s appearance at the Crimson Elite/Scarlet and White Invite from Feb. 2-3. The site for the Scarlet and White Invite, The Track at New Balance, will also serve as the location for the NCAA DI Indoor Championships from Mar. 8-9.
The final regular-season weekend will see the distance group make a trip of its own to Boston, Mass., for the Valentine Invitational from Feb. 9-10, while the sprint and field squads travel to Clemson for the Tiger Paw Invite at the Rock Norman Track and Field Complex.
The Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship from Feb. 23-24 will serve as the first with 14 teams as BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston will each be making their debut in one of the premier conferences in the nation along with UCF.