Liberty sets 2021 outdoor track & field schedule

First-year Liberty Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Lance Bingham completed his teams’ 2021 schedule on Wednesday with the announcement of the outdoor track & field slate.

As usual, Liberty will wrap up its regular-season schedule at home, playing host to the Liberty Twilight Qualifier on May 5 at the Matthes-Hopkins Track Complex. The Flames will recognize their seniors during the one-day competition.

Liberty will stay in Virginia for five total outdoor meets, including a trio in Lynchburg. The Flames are also entered in the WildCat Invitational (April 10 at Randolph College) and the University of Lynchburg Invitational (April 24).

Liberty will make a pair of trips north on Route 29 to Charlottesville for the Virginia Challenge (April 16-17) and Virginia Grand Prix (April 30-May 1).

For the fourth consecutive season, the Flames will open the outdoor campaign in Charleston, S.C., at the CSU Spring Break Invitational (March 19-20). Liberty was also slated to begin the 2020 outdoor season at CSU before the meet and the remainder of the season were cancelled due to CoVID-19.

Liberty will travel to four nationally prominent “Relays” during the outdoor season’s first six weekends of competition. These include the Texas Relays (March 24-27 in Austin, Texas), Raleigh Relays (March 26-27 in Raleigh, N.C.), Mt. SAC Relays (April 15-17 in Walnut, Calif.) and Penn Relays (April 22-24 in Philadelphia, Pa.)

Liberty has been a regular participant at Texas and Raleigh in recent years, but the Flames will be making their first visit to Mt. SAC since 2016 and their first Penn Relays appearance since 2017.

Liberty will compete in back-to-back meets at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., during the month of May. The Flames will take part in the ASUN Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 14-15), followed by the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet (May 27-29).

The Flames will get their first look at the newly rebuilt Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., when the facility hosts the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, June 9-12. Shortly thereafter, the same venue will welcome the U.S. Olympic Trials (June 18-27).