CARROLLTON, Ga. - After a nearly 40-year hiatus, men's track and field is back on campus at the University of West Georgia.
 
In conjunction with the September 8 announcement that UWG is elevating to Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference, the UWG Department of Athletics will add men's indoor and outdoor track and field to its portfolio of sponsored sports, beginning this season, in 2023-24.
 
"The return of Men's Track and Field, both Indoor and Outdoor, to complement our existing participation in Women's Cross Country, Women's Indoor Track & Field, Women's Outdoor Track & Field, and Men's Cross Country provides a tremendous participation opportunity for us to maximize our current Cross Country and Track & Field ecosystem," said Director of Athletics Jason Carmichael. "Additionally, the revitalization of this historic program at UWG will be followed by the further expansion of additional Women's sports in the subsequent months as well."
 
West Georgia will compete in men's track and field for one lone season in the Gulf South Conference this coming spring before beginning competition in the ASUN, along with the remainder of UWG's 14 varsity sports, in 2024-25.
 
Men's Track and Field was a mainstay in the early days of West Georgia's athletic history, as the program has produced nine UWG Athletics Hall of Fame Members. Track and Field was on campus as early as 1961 and was discontinued in 1985.
 
"I showed up to play football without realizing the team had disbanded, and I was disappointed," said former track and field athlete and member of the UWG Champion's Council, Scott Evans, "But then they said why don't you go out for track and field and I really enjoyed the experience."
 
Evans was a part of UWG's track and field team in 1973 and 1974 and today is a prominent business owner in the Carrollton community as the owner of the Scott Evans Automotive Group.
 
"Track and field will round out the school, and it rounds out the drawing card for the Department of Athletics and provides so many extracurricular activities for the University," added Evans.
 
UWG's men's track and field will officially step on the track again for the first time in decades on the first weekend in December at Birmingham Southern's meet at the Birmingham Crossplex.