Albaquerque Wants to be Hub of Indoor Track 

By Rick Wright

As Wimbledon is to tennis, as Augusta is to golf, as Philly is to the cheese steak, UNM and the city of Albuquerque would like to be to indoor track and field.

The effort is well under way.

On Feb. 27-28, the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships will be staged at the Albuquerque Convention Center. ESPN will be in town to televise the event nationally. It’s the first of a three-year run.

The USA championships almost literally nip the heels of the 2010 Mountain West Conference indoor meet, scheduled for Feb. 25-27, which wrap up at the Convention Center barely an hour before the USATF meet begins.

Then, on March 12-13, the NCAA Division II men’s and women’s indoor championships come to Albuquerque. The D-II meet will return in 2011.

Beyond the USATF’s third visit in 2012, UNM is preparing to bid for the 2013 NCAA Division I indoor meet.

In the meantime, UNM hosted a college meet last weekend, will host the Cherry & Silver Invitational this Saturday and will have a meet each weekend through Feb. 6 — making full use of the Mondo indoor portable track purchased by the city in 2004.

It all started with the track.