MACOMB, Ill. — Head Cross Country Coach Nick Maas announced the 2017 Cross Country schedule for the upcoming season, which features five meets during the regular season.
Western Illinois opens the season Sept. 1 with the WIU Early Bird Invitational, which will be held at Spring Lake Park. The race consists of the women’s 4,000 and the mens’ 6,000 meter runs, which are set for 5 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. start times.
For more information on the WIU Early Bird Invite, click HERE.
A week later on Sept. 8, Western heads to Normal, Ill. for the Illinois State Country Financial Invite, followed by the Bradley Intercollegiate Sept. 15 in Peoria, Ill.
The Leathernecks compete in the Louisville Classic (Louisville, Ky.) that takes place on Sept. 30 before heading back to Peoria and then capping of the season at the Bradley Pink Classic Oct. 13. Western then shifts its focus to The Summit League Championships on Oct. 28, which will take place in Vermillion, S.D.
“Our schedule for the cross country season puts us in some very familiar territory,” said Maas. “The WIU Early Bird meet at Spring Lake Park is first on the docket and allows us to test ourselves on a shorter than normal race at home. We then travel to Bradley twice and to Illinois State once just as we have in the last few years. Those meets are familiar and can help us gauge on our year to year improvements. The one major addition to the schedule this year is our trip to Louisville. They host several large meets this year with dozens of the best teams in the region and nationally.
Western Illinois opens the season Sept. 1 with the WIU Early Bird Invitational, which will be held at Spring Lake Park. The race consists of the women’s 4,000 and the mens’ 6,000 meter runs, which are set for 5 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. start times.
For more information on the WIU Early Bird Invite, click HERE.
A week later on Sept. 8, Western heads to Normal, Ill. for the Illinois State Country Financial Invite, followed by the Bradley Intercollegiate Sept. 15 in Peoria, Ill.
The Leathernecks compete in the Louisville Classic (Louisville, Ky.) that takes place on Sept. 30 before heading back to Peoria and then capping of the season at the Bradley Pink Classic Oct. 13. Western then shifts its focus to The Summit League Championships on Oct. 28, which will take place in Vermillion, S.D.
“Our schedule for the cross country season puts us in some very familiar territory,” said Maas. “The WIU Early Bird meet at Spring Lake Park is first on the docket and allows us to test ourselves on a shorter than normal race at home. We then travel to Bradley twice and to Illinois State once just as we have in the last few years. Those meets are familiar and can help us gauge on our year to year improvements. The one major addition to the schedule this year is our trip to Louisville. They host several large meets this year with dozens of the best teams in the region and nationally.
“It will allow our team the chance to test how we handle that type of environment and get us out of our comfort zone a little. The Summit League Championships will be held at the University of South Dakota, which, like many of the courses we will run on will be relatively flat, but as usual, very competitive. We have a young motivated team so we are looking forward to some good growth as the year progresses.”
