SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga women's and men's cross country programs announced their 2021 schedule Wednesday, with a bevy of familiar races set to fill out their first full-length fall season of cross country since 2019.
The Bulldogs' fall season begins at the Clash of the Inland Northwest in nearby Cheney, which both the men's and women's teams won in their last appearance in 2019.
The Zags will be represented by a women's squad at the USF Invitational hosted by conference rivals San Francisco on Sept. 4 before regrouping Sept. 10 for the Cougar Classic. In 2019, GU's men's squad took first overall at the Cougar Classic, with the women taking second in their race.
The two squads split up again on Sept. 23 and 24, with the women off to Minneapolis, Minn. for the Roy Griak invitational on the 24th — in which they placed fifth in 2019 — and the men set to appear in the Bill Dellinger Invitational on the 23rd, in which they last competed in 2017, also placing fifth as a team.
The prestigious Nuttycombe Invitational is up next on Oct. 15, with both Zags squads set to face off against some of the nation's highest-ranked teams in Madison, Wisc. In 2019, only the men competed, finishing 16th overall behind a 15th-place finisher from current GU junior James Mwaura. This will be the first time a women's squad from GU takes part in the race.
GU's final two regular-season races will be held a bit closer to home, with the Inland Empire Classic in Lewiston on Oct. 16 and the Downriver Classic in Spokane set for Oct. 22.
The Zags' postseason will begin with the 2021 West Coast Conference Championships in Concord, Calif., on Oct. 29. The Bulldogs will look to surpass last year's performance in Las Vegas that saw the men place second with Mwaura finishing second as an individual in an 8K program-record finish of 23:02.9 and the women place fourth. BYU is the reigning WCC champion in both men's and women's cross country.
This year's NCAA West Regionals are also set to take place in the state of California, beginning on Nov. 12 in Sacramento. This year's national championships are in Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 20.
2021 Gonzaga Cross Country Schedule
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Date
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Meet
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Location
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Sept. 3
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Clash of the Inland Northwest
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Cheney, Wash.
|
|
Sept. 4
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USF Invitational (Women only)
|
San Francisco, Calif.
|
|
Sept. 10
|
Cougar Classic
|
Colfax, Wash.
|
|
Sept. 23
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Bill Dellinger Invitational (Men)
|
Springfield, Ore.
|
|
Sept. 24
|
Roy Griak Invitational (Women)
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Minneapolis, Minn.
|
|
Oct. 15
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Nuttycombe Invitational
|
Madison, Wis.
|
|
Oct. 16
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Inland Empire Classic
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Lewiston, Idaho
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|
Oct. 22
|
Downriver Classic
|
Spokane, Wash.
|
|
Oct. 29
|
West Coast Conference Championships
|
Concord, Calif.
|
|
Nov. 12
|
NCAA West Regional Championships
|
Sacramento, Calif.
|
|
Nov. 20
|
NCAA National Championships
|
Tallahassee, Fla.
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