The University of Windsor Lancers hope to sweep the team banners for the second straight year later this week when the best university track and field athletes in the country meet in Winnipeg for the 2012 CIS indoor championships.
 
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/trackfield/index
 
The three-day national meet, hosted by the University of Manitoba for the first time since 2005, kicks off Thursday at 11 a.m. Central with the season awards luncheon at Marshall McLuhan Hall on the campus of the U of M.
 
The Windsor women are looking for a fourth consecutive CIS title this week. After edging archrival Guelph by a single point back in 2009, they crushed the competition at the last two Nationals, winning by 41 points over Toronto in 2010 and by 55.5 over Guelph a year ago.
 
Two weeks ago, Windsor repeated as OUA champion thanks to a 13-point lead over Western.
 
Interestingly enough, despite their status as reigning national and conference champs, the Lancer women head into the CIS meet ranked second behind the Guelph Gryphons, who settled for third place at the OUA championships. Western and Toronto are tied for third in the latest rankings published Tuesday, while Saskatchewan rounds out the top five.
 
On the men's side, the Lancers were even more dominant at last year's Nationals, finishing with a mind-boggling 84-point lead over Regina. With the triumph, Windsor avenged a heartbreaking one-point loss to Guelph in 2010.
 
The Lancers picked up where they left off this season as they claimed a 14^th straight OUA men's title. They are 34.5-point favourites going into this week's championships, with conference rivals Guelph, York, Ottawa and Western following in order in the rankings.
 
Regardless of the rankings, both the men's and women's team remain a target, and that's not expected to change as they both look to defend their titles.
 
“We're used to being the target, but it's a different group each year,” head coach Dennis Fairall said.
 
“Everyone's pumped,” commented Matt Walters, who is ranked first in the 1,500m and third in the 3,000m. “We've got great momentum going in, and everyone's closer at the end of the season.”
 
The team banners will be presented following the 4x400m finals on Saturday afternoon.
 
2012 CIS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
 
Thursday, March 8
 
14:00      Weight Throw (W) Final
15:30      60m Hurdles (W) Pentathlon
15:45      60m Hurdles (M) Pentathlon
16:15      High Jump (W) Pentathlon
16:30      Long Jump (M) Pentathlon
17:45      Shot Put (M) Pentathlon
18:30      60m (W) Heats
18:45      60m (M) Heats
18:45      Shot Put (W) Pentathlon
19:30      60m (W) Final
19:40      60m (M) Final
20:00      Long Jump (W) Pentathlon
20:15      High Jump (M) Pentathlon
21:00      600m (W) Heats
21:15      600m (M) Heats
21:30      800m (W) Pentathlon
21:45      1000m (M) Pentathlon
 
Friday, March 9
 
13:30      60m Hurdles (M) Heats
13:45      60m Hurdles (W) Heats
14:10      4x200m Relay (M) Heats
14:25      4x200m Relay (W) Heats
15:30      Weight Throw (M) Final
18:00      Long Jump (W) Final
18:00      Pole Vault (W) Final
18:00      60m Hurdles (W) Final
18:15      60m Hurdles (M) Final
18:45      300m (W) Heats
19:00      300m (M) Heats
19:15      High Jump (M) Final
19:20      1000m (W) Final
19:30      1000m (M) Final
19:50      3000m (W) Final
20:00      Long Jump (M) Final
20:10      3000m (M) Final
20:15      Shot Put (W) Final
20:45      300m (W) Final
20:55      300m (M) Final
21:10      4x800m Relay (W) Final
21:25      4x800m Relay (M) Final
 
Saturday, March 10
 
12:30      Triple Jump (W) Final
12:30      Pole Vault (M) Final
13:15      600m (W) Final
13:30      600m (M) Final
14:15      4x200m Relay (W) Final
14:25      4x200m Relay (M) Final
14:45      Triple Jump (M) Final
14:45      Shot Put (M) Final
14:45      1500m (W) Final
15:00      1500m (M) Final
15:00      High Jump (W) Final
16:00      4x400m Relay (W) Final
16:15      4x400m Relay (M) Final