Cougars Ready to Kick Off 2011 Indoor Season

PROVO -- The 2011 track and field season begins for the BYU men’s and women’s teams on Friday at the annual BYU Indoor Invitational at the Smith Fieldhouse.

“It’s finally an opportunity to compete after four months of training,” men’s head coach Mark Robison said. “This is a starting point to see where we are at.”

Both the men and women are coming of 2010 Indoor Mountain West Conference Championship seasons and looking to continue their dominance with a quest for a 11th and 10th MWC Championship, respectively.

“This is a really low key meet,” BYU women’s head coach Patrick Shane said. “It is a good way to see where we are as a team and to get our athletes in a competitive atmosphere.”

The University of Utah and Utah Valley University will also be participating in the meet. With many new faces on the team, the coaches are anxious to see competition and will be evaluating different performances to see which athletes will be difference makers this year.

“The first meet is a blast and you’ll have no idea what you have,” Robison said. “But then it will give us an idea of who we are and we’ll see tremendous progress for the rest of the season.”

The meet begins at noon on Friday with the women’s heptathlon and will close at 5 p.m. Events will resume Saturday at 10 a.m. with the men’s heptathlon, ending with the men’s and women’s 4x1 lap relay.