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IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's outdoor track & field team is set to open the 2017 season on March 4 as the 'Eaters officially announced their schedule on Wednesday.

For the third year in a row, the Anteaters will begin the campaign in La Jolla as they travel south for the All-UC Championships. They follow the season opener with a short trip to Cal State Fullerton for the Ben Brown Invitational on March 11.

"We haven't attended the Ben Brown Invitational in a while, it's been at least four or five years now," Perkins said. "For us, it's a good chance for our athletes to get on their facility because that's where the conference championships will be hosted. It is also a huge invitational, so we will be looking forward to that as an early season test."

The 'Eaters then host the UCI Spring Collegiate Classic at Anteater Stadium, March 17-18.

"It will be nice to stretch our legs a little bit – it will be our third meet of the season," Perkins said. "We'll see how we size up against some teams that are coming from out of state. We're excited to have Northern Arizona and Army come to the meet along with some local universities as well."

UC Irvine then closes out the first month of the season at the UC Riverside Spring Track Classic (March 24-25).

The 'Eaters jump right into a busy April that sees them competing in eight meets. They first head to Sacramento for the Mondo Team Challenge (April 1) at Hornet Stadium, which has served as the host site for past U.S. Olympic Trials and national championships. UCI then makes its way back to Fullerton for the Big West Challenge Cup on April 7. The following week, the Anteaters are slated to send a split squad to the Bryan Clay Invitational (April 13-14), Pacific Coast Intercollegiate (April 14), Mt. SAC Relays (April 14-15) and Beach Invite (April 15).

UC Irvine will also return to La Jolla for the Triton Invitational prior to hosting the annual Steve Scott Invitational, April 28-29.

The Big West Championships begin with the heptathlon, May 5-6, while the rest of the team will get their final tune-up at the Oxy Invite. The conference meet continues with the main events, May 12-13, in Fullerton.

The NCAA West Preliminaries will run from May 25-27, in Austin, Texas, while the NCAA Outdoor Championships are once again set to take place in Eugene, Ore., June 7-10.

UC Irvine looks to have another strong year in the sprints and hurdles with the return of senior Megan George and junior Persis William-Mensah. George, who is a two-time defending Big West champion in the 100-meter hurdles, broke the school record at 13.28 seconds, while William-Mensah topped the charts in the 100m dash (11.59) last season. The duo was also part of the Anteaters' 4x100 relay, along with juniors Taisyn Crutchfield and Michelle Norman, that claimed the conference title in a program-best 44.51 seconds. In addition, William-Mensah had an eye-opening summer as she competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio as a member of Ghana's 4x100 relay team.

UCI has a strong contingent in the field events as well, where it welcomes back sophomore Barbara Coward, who established a pair of top-five marks in the throws last year. She set a school record in the discus at 170-11, while registering the fifth-best toss in the hammer (160-09). Junior Dazhana Bauer-Jackson also ranks second in program history in the hammer with a personal-best 179-11.

Senior pole vaulter Ariel Cheng returns for her final campaign where she will look to improve on her lifetime-best 12-10.75. Cheng enters the season at No. 2 on the UC Irvine all-time charts and is a two-time All-Big West performer.

"We'll be looking for a big year from Barbara Coward," Perkins said. "She was our school record holder last year as a freshman and made the NCAA Preliminaries in the discus. Michelle Norman will also be big for us, she was part of our 4x100 school record setting team.

"Across the board, we've brought in a new regime of kids and it will be an exciting group."