STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Track and Field head coach Bobby Carter announced the 2025-26 indoor and outdoor slates on Monday afternoon.

Just a few months after taking the Tarleton State Track and Field program to its first NCAA National Championships, coach Carter is ready for his second season at the helm. The Texans will have a full indoor slate with seven regular season meets and then the WAC Championships and NCAA Indoor Championships at the end of February and into March. In the outdoor slate the Texans will compete in nine regular season meets followed by the WAC Championships, NCAA West First Rounds and NCAA National Championships.

"I am excited about this upcoming season," said Carter. "As I've always said we will travel to where the best competition is at. Last year, this team made history. This year we will be monumental. Greater is coming."

The Texans will open the indoor slate at the Oklahoma Jumps Invite on Dec. 5. Tarleton State's jumpers will be the first to get their season kicked off with the rest of the team opening their indoor slate at the Corky Classic on Jan. 16-17. The Texans will be in Lubbock for back-to-back weekends returning for the Red Raider Classic on Jan. 23. Also that weekend, part of the team will head to Texas A&M for the Ted Nelson Invitational on Jan. 23-24. 

The Purple and White will close January as a team at the Robert Platt Invitational hosted by Houston on Jan. 30-31. Tarleton State will open February as a split squad on Feb. 13-14. The Texans will compete at the Tyson Invitational at Arkansas as well as return to Lubbock for the third time in the indoor season for the Jarvis Scott Invite. The pair of meets will be the final regular season competitions for the Texans to put together qualifying marks for the conference championships. 

For the second consecutive season, the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held in Spokane, Wash. at The Podium on the final weekend of February, 27-28. After sending four athletes to the NCAA Track and Field Indoor National Championships for the first time in program history last season, the Texans will look to surpass that number this year. This year's championships are slated to be held on March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Ark. at the Randal Tyson Center. Athletes will need to post a top 16 mark in the nation to qualify for the meet, as conference champions do not receive an automatic bid.

The Texans will open their first of eight regular season outdoor meets on March 20 at the ACU Wes Kittley Invitational. The following weekend, the squad will head to Baylor for the Clyde Hart Invitational on March 27-28. The next weekend will feature two meets for the Texans. After four medalist performances a season ago, the Purple and White will return to the Texas Relays on April 1-4. Also on that weekend, a few will head to the Jim Click Shootout from April 3-4 for the first time in program history in Tucson, Ariz. 

For the second of three times, the Texans will return to Waco for the Baylor Invitational on April 10. The Tarleton State annual home meet, the Joe Gillespie Invitational is slated for April 17-18 at the Tarleton State Track and Field Complex. For the third and final time, the Texans will head to Baylor for the Michael Johnson Invitational on April 24-25. Lokesh Sathyanathan took home the individual title and posted the best long jump mark in the NCAA last season at last year's event. The Texans will round out the regular season at the SMU Invitational for the second consecutive season falling on May 1-2 at the Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium.

After a very busy and successful postseason last year, the Texans are primed for another prosperous outcome in 2026. The Texans will start their quest at the 2026 WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 14-16 hosted at Maverick Stadium in Arlington, Texas for the second year in a row. Last year, Tarleton State took home six individual event champions. After the conference championships, the top 48 in each event across all of the NCAA West Region will head to Fayetteville, Ark. for the NCAA West First Rounds. Last year, the Texans sent 11 student-athletes to the First Rounds in College Station. Across four days, May 27-31, the top 12 in each event at that meet will punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. at Hayward Field. A season ago, seven Texans punched their tickets to Oregon. The four-day event spanning June 10-13 will have Tarleton State competing amongst the best athletes in the NCAA. Last year, two Texans earned First Team All-American honors, and three posted Second Team All-American performances.

Tarleton State cracked the national rankings and scored points at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor National Championships in their first year of eligibility last season. This year the Texans have built a strong schedule to increase their competition level and strive for more athletes to reach the national level. 

More information on meet times, video links, live results and meet information will be released at a later date.