CHADRON, Neb. – For the second year in a row, the Chadron State College track and field teams coached by Jake Gruver will open the season by hosting the "Birds and the Bees" Alumni Open Meet this weekend in the Nelson Physical Activity Center.
 
The action will begin Friday, Dec.5 at 3 p.m. with the women's pentathlon and the men's heptathlon. All five of the pentathlon events will take place Friday while four heptathlon events will be held Friday and the remaining three will help open Saturday's schedule at 9 o'clock.  
 
This is Gruver's third year as the Eagles' head coach. Under his leadership the rosters have grown. This year's women's team has 35 members and the men's team has 53. They hail from 11 states and nine nations.
 
The coach said the competition will primarily be between his Birds (Eagles) and Black Hills State's Bees (Yellow Jackets), but a few athletes from South Dakota Mines and sa few other schools also have submitted some entries.
 
The competition was tight last year. The Chadron State men scored 232 points and the Black Hills men 178. On the women's side, Black Hills chalked up 186.5 points and CSC 164.5. 
 
The Eagles' men took first place in eight events and the Yellow Jackets in five.   The Black Hills women won eight events and the CSC women three.