April 7, 2011

CHICAGO - The UIC men's and women's track and field teams will stay close to home this weekend, competing in the Chicagoland Classic. The women's squad will open competition Friday beginning at 1 p.m., while the men's squad will race Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. CST.

"I'm really looking forward to this meet because it's a great head-to-head battle with all the Chicago area schools," said UIC head coach Jim Knoedel. "In the Indoor competition, our guys finished second, and I know we will be even stronger with the extra outdoor events; so I'll be curious to see how we stack up. Our women were fourth when competing indoors but we have added a lot, and I expect us to be even closer to the top."

Both teams are coming off successful runs at last weekend's Mike Poelhein Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind. On the women's side, Andrea Crump captured the individual titles in both the triple jump and 100-meter dash. In men's action, the Flames recorded 10 individual top-five finishes.

UIC will compete in the Windy City in each of the next two weekends, also heading to the DePaul Invitational next Saturday (April 16).