College Track Series To Be Feature Of Weekly Television Programming

In an effort to renew interest in track and field, especially at the collegiate level, the national governing body will launch the televised US Collegiate Track & Field Series this year.

“This will fill an important gap between the indoor and outdoor seasons,” Craig Masback, executive director of USA Track & Field, said Monday. “This will allow people to get to know the young stars and help develop the sport. It will be a fan-friendly format.”

Masback said the series will begin March 21 and be held every weekend except one through May 10.

The schedule features two or three meets each weekend, with 70 schools from 20 conferences competing in 21 meets. Each meet will be packaged into a 2-1/2-hour format, with scoring determining a team winner.

One meet will be televised nationally each weekend, with the others televised regionally, each for 1 hour.

Masback said negotiations had not been finalized, but he was talking with two cable networks, and discussions may be completed shortly on a three-year contract. He also said the series didn’t have any sponsors yet.

It will be funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Olympic Committee.

There will be three meets on the first weekend - at Arizona State, with teams from George Mason, Iowa and Kansas; at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, with teams from Brigham Young, Kent State and Southern California; and at UCLA, with teams from Air Force, Cal and UC-Irvine.

“It is very exciting for track and field to witness the return of televised scoring meets, with some of the country’s premiere collegiate track programs competing head-to-head,” Masback and USAT&F president Patricia Rico said in a statement.