Cross Country Releases 2018 Schedule
6/13/2018 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Gonzaga women's and men's cross country programs announced their 2018 schedule Thursday.
"I really like our schedule for the upcoming year," women's Head Coach Patty Ley said. "It will begin with the traditional clash race that has always helped shake the cobwebs out and give a good base point for training. Montana has always been a good meet for us as the mid-season test. We're excited to return to the Pre-Nationals this year. Provo as a championship site will provide additional challenges, but it will be a terrific course. Sacramento will be a fast course and the west regional will again be one of the toughest meets all year, but a great opportunity to shine."
"As Gonzaga distance running continues to grow, we build our schedule on the talent pool assembled," Director of GU Cross Country Pat Tyson said. "You don't take a team to Pre Nats unless you feel they can be one of those teams going to the big show in November. With that said, we continue to mix our schedule up with some old school traditional meets like Clash of the Inland Northwest."
The Zags open their 2018 schedule at the annual Clash of the Inland Northwest on Aug. 31. The rotating meet is hosted by the University of Idaho this season in Moscow. The twilight races will give the Bulldogs great starts to their season over the 6,000 and 4,000-meter courses. Jake Perrin's first place finish led the GU men to the team title at the event last season in Missoula, Mont.
On Sept. 15, Gonzaga welcomes the University of Idaho and Portland State for dual meets. The event will return to Mead High School. Last year, Perrin placed second behind teammate Sumner Goodwin.
The Bulldogs return to the Montana Invitational on Sept. 28. The University of Montana Golf Course will once again host the races. In 2016, the Zag men placed first, with an average time of 25:54.04.
"September has fairly low key races that allow us to keep our volume of training up, but still get some nice test efforts in workout type races," Tyson said. "October gets a little more intense."
Gonzaga will split its squads on Oct. 13, sending a select group to Madison, Wis., for the NCAA Pre-Nationals and another group to the Inland Empire Classic in Lewiston, Idaho. The Pre-Nationals will give the Zags a sample of the national championships, which will also be run at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course on Nov. 17. The Inland Empire Classic returns to the Lewiston Orchards, where GU swept the women's and men's team titles in 2015.
"We'll send our top seven to Madison for the Pre-Nationals," Tyson said. "Our goal is to test the bigtime and hopefully get some points that can help us with getting an at-large berth. The meet will have two races with roughly 35 to 40 teams in each. The volume of runners (250) gives our team an idea of what it is like to compete in gridlock -type high-caliber venues."
BYU hosts the 2018 West Coast Conference Championships on Oct. 27. The Bulldogs will look for more All-Conference finishes, before heading to Sacramento, Calif., for the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 9. This year's regionals return to Haggin Oaks Golf Course, where the Zag women placed 16th in 2016, and the men were 12th.
Date | Meet | Location |
Aug. 31 | Clash of the Inland Northwest | Moscow, Idaho |
Sept. 15 | Idaho-Portland State-Gonzaga Duals | Spokane, Wash. (Mead HS) |
Sept. 28 | Montana Invitational | Missoula, Mont. |
Oct. 13 | NCAA Pre Nationals | Madison, Wis. |
Inland Empire Classic | Lewiston, Idaho | |
Oct. 20 | Community College of Spokane Open | Spokane, Wash. (Franklin Park) |
Oct. 27 | West Coast Conference Championships | Provo, Utah |
Nov. 9 | NCAA West Regional Championships | Sacramento, Calif. |
Nov. 17 | NCAA National Championships | Madison, Wis. |
