ABILENE – Abilene Christian track and field Friday unveiled its anticipated 2021 schedule, which features Elmer Gray Stadium as the host site for the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships, May 15-16. ACU last played host to this event in 1970, when its men's team won its seventh-consecutive conference crown with 102 points, beating Lamar, Trinity, Arkansas State and UT Arlington.
ACU was to have played host to the May 2020 conference outdoor championship, until it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wildcats later agreed to host the 2021 edition after Category 4 Hurricane Laura severely damaged the campus and athletics facilities of original host McNeese State this August.
Elmer Gray Stadium also will host the Southland Soccer Championship the weekend of April 15-17.
Before the Wildcats get to the outdoor championships, they'll first have to grind through a shortened indoor campaign followed by eight regular-season outdoor meets.
Indoor season begins with January (16th) and February (19th) meets at Texas Tech followed by the Southland's annual trip to the Birmingham CrossPlex for the indoor championships. Last year's ACU men's and women's teams both placed third with nearly identical point totals (men, 64; women, 63).
This year's NCAA Indoor Championships are hosted by Arkansas, March 12-13, and then there's only a five-day window between the end of indoors and start of outdoors, which begins with ACU's annual Wes Kittley Invitational, March 18-20.
From there the Wildcats will make many familiar stops, including the Texas Relays (March 24-27), and Baylor's Michael Johnson Invitational (April 16-17). They'll also visit Waco April 3, North Texas on April 10 and Texas Tech from April 30 to May 1.
ACU's Oliver Jackson Twilight Meet is slated for Thursday, April 22, and its Last Chance Meet is set for Sunday, May 9.
This spring's NCAA West Preliminaries are at Texas A&M (May 27-29) and nationals will be held at the University of Oregon, June 9-12.
Ticket information for the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships will be announced at a later date.
