The primary goal of the Prairie Fire track and field program is to provide each individual with an equal opportunity to train, compete, and improve at their respective ability level, while striving for stronger balance and depth as a complete team.

Prairie Fire student-athletes have established more than 45 track and field school records since 2000, won five individual Midwest Conference meet titles and claimed more than 30 All-Conference medals. Rachel Spiegel became the first Knox woman to win the same event at the indoor and outdoor MWC Championships in the same year, capturing both triple jump titles in 2005.

The track and field team has produced 14 NCAA Division III national meet qualifiers and two NCAA All-Americans, and the only individual national champion in school history (Mike Pankey, 1989, 400 meters).

The traditional five-month track and field calendar begins with a separate indoor season starting in early January and ending with Midwest Conference (MWC) and NCAA national championship meets in March.

Following indoor competition, Prairie Fire track and field team members have enjoyed several Spring Break trips in recent years, traveling to Kansas and Tennessee (2006), North Carolina (2004) and Florida (2002).

The outdoor season schedule includes several large-scale invitational meets which feature some of the best Division III talent in the country and ends with the MWC and NCAA National Meets in May. In addition to quality conference and regional competition, recent years have seen Knox teams travel to Division I meets at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Western Illinois, Truman State, and the University of Northern Iowa.

Knox track teams compete on Turner Track at Trevor Field. The outdoor track and field complex provides outstanding resources and equipment for training and a home site for Prairie Fire track and field meets. The complex features a unique purple eight-lane, all-weather running track with a regulation steeplechase water pit and new field event sites. The site will host the MWC outdoor championships in 2008.

Prairie Fire track athletes have gone on to a wide variety of successful careers. Michelle Williams '92 (Chemistry) is a physical therapist at Olympic Physical Therapy in Seattle, Washington. David Bates '78 (Political Science) is an attorney and partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell law firm in Houston, Texas. Daniel Breed '74 (Physics) is a research meteorologist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. Jon Bell '94 is the director of the National Wellness Insitute.

For more information, submit the Recruit Me form or e-mail track@knox.edu.