NEWARK, Del. - - A string of new courses and meets in the middle of the season highlights the 2013 Wilmington University men's and women's cross country schedule as head coach Keith Jones announces the year's campaign for both squads.
The men are coming off its first ever Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship and look to improve upon its seventh place finish at the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship at the end of the season. The women had a runner reach the NCAA Division II National Championship a season ago and look to improve upon their fifth place conference finish and 16th place finish at the Regional Championship.
"We have changed our schedule this year to experience the challenge of larger fields and the difficulty of faster competition," Jones, who started the cross country program and is entering his 13th season as head coach, said.
The first two weeks of the season remains familiar as the teams will remain in Delaware to open the year. The Wildcats begin their competition with the 13th Annual WUXC Invite on September 7. The meet will once again be held at Carousel Park in Wilmington, the home course of the Wildcats. Seven days later, Wilmington will races against NCAA Division I, II, and III level schools at the University of Delaware Invite at White Clay Creek State Park in Newark.
Jones will then take his teams to three different meets, each for the first time. On September 21, the squads will make their first ever trip to the UMass-Dartmouth Invite in preparation of running in the NCAA East Regional Championship which is also held in Massachusetts.
Two weeks later, the runners will race in the prestigious Paul Short Invitational, hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.
"Since the Paul Short attracts some of the top cross country programs in the nation, we will get a solid look on where the teams stand," Jones said. "Many teams in the conference and across the regional will be racing alongside the Wildcats as well, so it will be a good gauge for us."
The final race of the regular season will take place on October 19 when the teams travel to the Princeton XC Invitational, hosted on Princeton's campus on West Windsor Field.
The men will look to defend their CACC crown on October 27 at the CACC Tournament held once again at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. The women will contend for their first CACC Tournament Championship starting at 10 a.m., followed the men at 10:45 a.m.
Historic Franklin Park in Boston, Mass. will once again be home to the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship on November 9 with the top three teams from each race and top five individuals will earn a spot in the NCAA Division II National Championship event.
Should either team make their first appearance in the National Championship, the meet will be held at Plates Ferry Complex in Spokane, Wash., on Saturday, November 23.
Jones concluded, "Our teams are training diligently and are locked in on excelling at both the CACC and Regional Championships this year."
AGATE:
2013 Wilmington University Cross Country Schedule:
September:
7 – 13th Annual WUXC Invitational (Carousel Park); 14 – at UD Invite (White Clay Creek State Park); 21 – at UMass Dartmouth Invite (UMass Dartmouth Campus)
October:
5 – at Paul Short Invitational (Lehigh University); 19 – at Princeton XC Invitational (West Windsor Field); 27 – at CACC Championship (Belmont Plateau, Fairmont Park)