The University of Illinois Springfield track and field teams announced the outdoor portion of their Spring 2023 schedule on Wednesday. The Prairie Stars will open the season at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, NC on March 23.

UIS will run at the WashU Distance Carnival in St. Louis, MO and the Milikin Alumni Invite in Decatur, IL the following weekend. The two meets are the team's closest competitions to the Springfield area.

Track athletes from across the nation will meet at the Raleigh Relays and the Bryan Clay Invite with hopes to hit NCAA marks this spring. The athletes with the top marks in NCAA DII will qualify for the NCAA DII Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Pueblo, CO. The Prairie Stars have been successful in their trips to the Bryan Clay Invite in Asuza, CA in recent years by running school records and NCAA marks.

UIS graduated two GLVC Outdoor Track and Field Champions in 2022, but welcomes back Cort Ross and Noah McIntyre. Ross was the GLVC champion in the 10,000m as a true freshman in 2021, and McIntyre won the 1500m at the outdoor championships in 2022. UIS men's track and field looks to have the top runners in several distance events at the GLVC Championships in 2023. 

Also on the men's side, Wyatt McIntyre was the GLVC runner-up in the 10,000m in 2022 and finished third in the outdoor track conference championship 5,000m in 2021. Cort Ross and the McIntyre brothers are joined by a team of athletes with accolades in cross country and indoor track and field that look to earn the first outdoor track and field honors of their careers.

On the women's side, Breanna Chandler and Jade Aubrey are the most experienced athletes on the track. Chandler faced some of the top runners in the GLVC in the preliminary round of the 800m in 2022, and looks to advance to the finals in 2023. Aubrey finished 16th in the conference championship 1500m with a personal record time of 4:56.96. Maggie George is the most senior member of the team, competing in the throwing events for UIS since 2019. 

The conference championships will be on May 4-6m and UIS hopes to advance athletes to the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships on May 25-27.

Men's Schedule
Women's Schedule