BOONE, N.C. -- Three home indoor meets and two home outdoor meets, including the 2010 Southern Conference Outdoor Championship, highlight the 2009-10 Appalachian State track and field schedule.

The indoor season kicks off in Boone December 5, as the Mountaineers will host the Appalachian Invitational at the Holmes Convocation Center.

Following a month-long break over the christmas holidays, the Apps will return to action January 8, traveling to Chapel Hill, N.C. to compete in the UNC Opener before returning home the following weekend to host the Appalachian Open January 15.

Appalachian will then hit the road two consecutive weekends, with trips to East Tennessee State for the Niswonger Invitational January 22-23 and Lynchburg, Va. for the Liberty Invitational January 29-30.

After a two-week hiatus the Mountaineers will be back in action February 12-13 at the Akron Invitational in Akron, Ohio, prior to returning home to host the Mountaineer Open February 18 in their final tune-up before the SoCon Championships at Clemson February 25-26.

Appalachian will be looking to duplicate a highly successful 2008-09 indoor season, which saw the men and women sweep the SoCon Championships.

The outdoor season kicks off with with consecutive trips into ACC country in late March. The Apps will travel to Winston Salem to take part in the Wake Forest Invitational March 19-20, and follow that up with a trip to NC State for the Raleigh Relays March 26-27.

The Mountaineers begin the month of April with a trip to Wilmington for th annual Sea vs. Mountains meet, hosted by UNC-Wilmington April 3. The Apps will be split up the following weekend, with athletes slated to participate at both the Sea Rays Invitational at Knoxville, Tenn. and the Winthrop Quad at Rock Hill, S.C. over the weekend of April 9-10.

ASU will then return home for consecutive weekends to close out the regular season, hosting the Appalachian Invitational April 16 and the SoCon Championships April 24-25.

The 2009 outdoor season was another marked success for Appalachian track, with the women taking the SoCon outdoor crown while the men fell just a 1/2 point short of Western Carolina for the title. With multiple conference champions returning on both squads, 2009-10 is shaping up to be another banner year for the Mounaineers.