PRAIRIE VIEW – The Prairie View A&M Track and Field program has garnered a prestigious opportunity for the national spotlight, as the program's home facilities have been chosen to host USA Track and Field's Back to the Track series.
 
The three-week event begins July 23 and will feature several professional athletes, as well as international athletes who live and train in the Texas area. As the PVAMU Track Stadium was originally set to host pro competition during the PV Relays, this marks the first bit of outdoor competition for professional athletes this year.
 
"They were all coming to PV Relays but that was cancelled, and it was devastating to the athletes because it was the first meet on the USA Track and Field series for the pro athletes to start outdoor competition," PVAMU Head Women's Track and Field Coach Angela Williams said. "The Women's Chair of USATF Rose Monday, Darrell Woodson and I started having discussions, and the series came up, and we talked about potentially having them here. Because our track is one of the best in the country and one of the few IAAF-certified tracks in the country, they wanted to see if we could host them here."
 
The series will feature a non-traditional schedule early on to help the participants to get back into the swing of things. The event has been structured with the health and safety of athletes in mind, as it adheres to USATF's COVID-19 competition guidelines. The first set of competition features the men's and women's 60-meter, 150-meter, 300-meter, 300-meter hurdles and 500-meter races.
 
"This brings national exposure to our university, and hopefully it will help with continued recruiting efforts as well. It shows that our facility is at the highest level you could ask for in the sport of track and field," Williams said. "Having the 2016 Olympic Training Camp here and now with pro athletes wanting to compete here on a consistent basis shows what type of environment we have at Prairie View, and personally I'm just excited we can continue to hold track competitions at the highest level."
 
On July 30, the events taking center stage include the men's and women's 100-meter, 100-meter hurdles, 110-meter hurdles, 200-meter, 400-meter, 400-meter hurdles and 600-meter races. Additionally, competition will be held in the men's long jump and women's triple jump.
 
August 6 concludes the series with action in the men's and women's 100-meter, 100-meter hurdles, 110-meter hurdles, 200-meter, 400-meter, 400-meter hurdles and 800-meter events. The women's long jump and men's triple jump will be featured as well.
 
Though the events aren't open to spectators due to safety reasons, competition will be shown via USATF.TV. The series shows that PVAMU Track and Field remains one of the sport's national movers and shakers.
 
"My ultimate goal is to see us host the Olympic Trials here one day," Williams said. "It's a great place to compete and be. I hope high school athletes are able to see what we're doing here and know that PVAMU is a place they can be proud to attend."