The Manitoba Bisons will host the 2012 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Track and Field Championship, as announced on Thursday.
This is the sixth time Manitoba will have hosted this prestigious event, as years prior included 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995 and recently in 2005. The event will be run in March 2012 at the Max Bell Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Manitoba.
Bison Sports Athletic Director Coleen Dufresne enthused, “We are excited and proud to have the opportunity to host the 2012 CIS Track & Field National Championship in the Max Bell Fieldhouse – the fastest indoor track in the country. This will be a great opportunity to showcase the highest level of talent across the country and, in particular, our Bison Track & Field athletes. Over 350 student athletes, families and friends will come to our campus. This is good for Bison Sports, the University of Manitoba and the city of Winnipeg!”
Manitoba and Saskatchewan are the only two universities from Western Canada who have hosted the CIS T&F National Championship over the last 15 years.
The Bisons women’s team finished with a silver medal (the highest finish in over a decade) and the men’s side was seventh at the 2005 CIS T&F Championship held at the U of M.
Manitoba will also be host of the 2011 Canada West Track and Field Championship after hosting in 2007, 2004 and 2000 in this decade.