Albuquerque Convention Center

Home of the 2006 MWC Indoor Track & Field Championships

Feb. 20, 2006

The 2006 Mountain West Conference Championships move to Albuquerque after six years at the Air Force Academy's Cadet Field House in Colorado Springs, Colo. Air Force also hosted the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Championships for 12 straight years before the MWC was formed. The 2006 MWC Championships will be the first indoor conference meet held in the state of New Mexico since the UNM hosted the 1987 WAC Indoor meet in Tingley Coliseum at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds. New Mexico hosted the WAC Indoor Championships at Tingley Coliseum six times between 1974-87.

In the 1960s and `70s Albuquerque was one of the nation's elite indoor track and field locations, drawing top professional and collegiate talent to compete in front of the large crowds at the annual Jaycee meets. The 1966 AAU Indoor Nationals (now known as the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships) drew a two-day total of nearly 20,000 fans to Tingley Coliseum and was featured on the March 14 cover of Sports Illustrated. Albuquerque officials were able to lure the meet away from its regular home at Madison Square Garden in New York City that year.

America's Best New Indoor Track & Field Venue
In just its first month of competition, the indoor track and field facility at the Albuquerque Convention Center has already established itself as the best new venue in America. Twelve top-25 men's and women's teams, 51 nationally ranked athletes and six of the nation's top relay teams have competed in Albuquerque in 2006. Twelve NCAA automatic qualifying marks and 71 provisional marks have been recorded in the Convention Center this year, including three of the current top marks in the country. One of those three was set by Texas' Trey Hardee who established a collegiate record of 6,208 points in the heptathlon during the Zia Classic Multis competition (Jan. 26-27). In addition, three of the best marks in NCAA Division II have also been established in Albuquerque by visiting Abilene Christian and Adams State.

Albuquerque Convention Center

March 14, 1966 Sports Illustrated cover after Albuquerque hosted the 1966 AAU Indoor Nationals.

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