Oregon announced the 2016 track and field schedule on Thursday afternoon, which includes three home meets before welcoming the NCAA Championships and the U.S. Olympic Trials to Eugene.
This upcoming season will serve as a farewell to the current layout of Hayward Field, as the historic venue is set to undergo renovations for the 2021 World Championships.
The first meet is the Pepsi Invitational on April 9, which will return to the four-team format. Invited are two Pac-12 conference rivals, USC and Washington, as well as Penn State. The Trojans are Oregon’s main competition in the conference, as the  USC men finished fifth and the women took seventh in the 2015 NCAA Championships.
“The Pepsi meet will no doubt be the best team-scored competition in the country this season,” Oregon head coach Robert Johnson said in a statement. ”We will match up with USC and Washington several times throughout the year and this will be another great battle.”
The Nittany Lions will also provide a challenge as the team won the Big-10 women’s cross country title last weekend.
The Pepsi Invitational will be the first of back-to-back home meets at Hayward with the Oregon Relays running April 14-16. The Relays will be a combination meet, with collegiate and professional races occurring alongside the largest high school meet in the northwest.
During the same weekend, a contingent of Ducks, mostly sprinters, will fly south to participate in the Mt. SAC Relays to take advantage of the warm weather.
The final home meet of the regular season will be the annual Oregon Twilight, held Friday, May 6. Continuing with its normal trend, the meet will feature Duck alums and professional athletes.
The Pac-12 Championships will take place May 7-8, hosted by Washington. The Ducks will be looking to sweep the competition for the eighth straight year.
The NCAA Championships will take place June 8-11, marking a record 14th time Eugene has played host. Following that are the Olympic Trials, which will run July 1-10.
Additional meets the Ducks will travel to include the Willie Williams Classic (March 18-19), the Stanford Invitational (April 3-4), the Payton Jordan Invitational (May 1) and the 122nd Penn Relays (April 28-30).
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur