Georgia track and field head coach Petros Kyprianou has officially announced the 2020 indoor and outdoor schedules for his men and women’s teams.
Indoor Slate: Kyprianou, who is starting his fifth year as the Bulldogs’ head coach and 12th season on UGA’s staff, will take a group to the one-day Orange & Purple Elite meet in Clemson, S.C., to start the indoor season on Jan. 11.
Following three more weekends of regular season meets, Georgia will return College Station, Texas, for the second Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships in the last three years on the Texas A&M campus and third since 2014. Those qualified will continue at the NCAA Indoor Championship in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 13-14, marking the first trip to the site since 2014.
Outdoor Slate: The Bulldogs’ outdoor season begins a week later with the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Atlanta on March 20-21. Georgia has a second regular season competition the next weekend before playing host to the first of three home meets with the Spec Towns Invitational on April 3-4. UGA’s Spec Towns Track will also be the location for the Torrin Lawrence Invitational (April 24-25) and the Bulldog Last Chance (May 9).
In addition to a pair of regular season meets in California, Georgia starts its outdoor postseason at the SEC Championships in College Station. This is Texas A&M’s first outdoor conference meet at their new Cushing Stadium and it also marks the first time that the SEC indoor and outdoor meets have been in the same city since 1996 (Lexington, Ky.). Following a trip to Kentucky for the NCAA East Prelims (May 28-30), Georgia’s representatives will head to Austin, Texas, for the second NCAA Championships in a row at the location.
Kyprianou’s Comments: “I’m excited to get the season started and see some signs of the hard work paying off for our student-athletes,” said Kyprianou, who has had 10 top-five team finishes since 2016, including the 2018 women’s indoor national championship and the men’s outdoor national title that same year. “With the indoor season being a short one, we tried to be efficient and quick on our traveling and that’s why the two low-key Clemson meets and two elite Arkansas meets. Moving on to outdoor, the three home meets is something new I wanted to try this year since we have a larger team to give the majority of our team members three solid opportunities! I feel very confident that the scheduling along with all the hard work of the student-athletes and staff will pay off as we are eying the ultimate price: this year’s NCAA championships.”
Back To Tiger Town: For the fourth consecutive year, Georgia is making the hour and a half trip to Clemson to compete. In fact, this marks the third year out of the last four that the Bulldogs will open their campaign in the Tigers’ facility. This year, UGA will open there and then return two weekends later for the Bob Pollock Invitational on Jan. 25-26.
Another Familiar Spot: Also per usual, Georgia will compete in Fayetteville, Ark., during its indoor season. The Bulldogs will compete at the Razorback Invitational on Jan. 31-Feb. 1 and then at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 14-15. This is the sixth straight year that UGA has lined up at Arkansas for one of its meets in the Randal Tyson Center, including last year’s SEC Indoor Championships. In fact, the SEC Indoor Championships have been there nine times since 2000, including last year’s meet, and the NCAA meet has been in Fayetteville a dozen times over the last 20 years.
West Coast Run: The Bulldogs will travel a contingent to the Husky Classic in Seattle for the first time since 2016. That year, seven Georgia middle-distance and distance runners took the track in Washington.
Postseason Pull: Both the SEC and NCAA indoor meets will be plane trips for the Bulldogs. The league meet will be in College Station for the second time in three years and third time in the last seven years. The NCAA Championships will be in Albuquerque for only the second time in history.
Outdoor Opener: Six days after the indoor season ends, the outdoor campaign begins at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Atlanta. This annually marks the shortest trip for Georgia and has kicked off their season for the last three years.
Home Sweet Home: Following a trip to Raleigh, N.C., for the Relays on March 27-28, the Bulldogs will play host to their first of three home meets. Georgia will put on the Spec Towns Invitational on April 3-4, the Torrin Lawrence Memorial on April 24-25 and the Bulldog Last Chance on May 9. This is the first time since 2016 that UGA has played host to three meets in a single season.
Cali-Bound: Georgia has begun competing at both the Mt. SAC Relays in Torrance, Ca., (April 16-18) and the Beach Invitational in Long Beach, Ca., (April 17-18) during a single trip since both traditionally provide top-ranked competition. It has also given the Bulldogs’ student-athletes from the West Coast a chance to compete closer to home.
Bring On The Postseason: Since it is an Olympic year, this postseason will be a unique one with the training plan for all of the NCAA’s elite performers. Georgia will start its postseason at the same spot where the SEC Indoor Championships were: on Texas A&M’s campus. Two weeks later, the Bulldogs will travel to Lexington, Ky., for the NCAA East Prelims. This meet will determine which UGA team members continue to compete into the month of June.
Another Session In The Lone Star State: Oregon, who hosted the NCAA Outdoor Championships from 2013-18, is still waiting on the renovated Hayward Field to be completed. In the meantime, Texas played host to the 2019 Nationals and will again welcome the country to Austin for NCAAs in 2020 (June 10-13). Before last year, the Longhorns last played host to the NCAA Championships in 2004. Oregon’s Hayward Field will be the site of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in late June and then the 2021-22 NCAA Championships.