NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 2023 Belmont University men’s and women’s cross country schedule has been revealed. Announced by director of cross country and track and field Jeff Langdon Wednesday afternoon, the fall slate features five regular season meets, including two hosted by the Bruins at Percy Warner Park.
“We put together a schedule that we believe will prepare us best for the highly-competitive Valley championship races,” commented coach Langdon. “No doubt, we will face extremely fast fields in our September trip to Indiana State and our October race at Alabama. It will be great to host our first-ever MVC Championships as we get to race on our home course. We are really looking forward to this fall and can’t wait to start training with our squads in August.”
Belmont will host the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships on Friday, Oct. 27 at the Vaughn’s Creek Cross Country Course. The men’s 8K and women’s 6K races will represent the first MVC Championship hosted by the Bruins.
The MVC Championships will cap a regular season that is set to get underway on Friday, Sept. 1 with the Belmont Opener. A race the Bruins have won six of the last seven seasons on the men’s side and in 2021 and 2018 on the women’s side, the Belmont Opener will start at 9:15 a.m. on the Vaughn’s Creek Course with the women’s 5K. The men’s 5K will follow beginning at 10 a.m.
The second weekend of the season will see Belmont split races on Saturday, Sept. 16 as the Bruins head to Indiana State’s John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, and stay local at Trevecca Nazarene’s Michael Pretorius Invitational held at Percy Warner Park. Returning to the site of last October’s MVC Championships, Belmont will take to the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Indiana with the men’s 8K race starting at 8 a.m. CT/9 a.m. ET and the women’s 5K race getting underway at 8:45 a.m. CT/9:45 a.m. ET.
The Bruins will compete in another high-level race on Friday, Oct. 13 when Belmont travels to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for the University of Alabama’s Crimson Classic.
Following the MVC Championships in the Music City in late October, the Bruins will journey to the Sunshine State for the NCAA South Regional Championships hosted by the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, on Friday, Nov. 10. The 2023 NCAA Championships, which will be hosted by the University of Virginia, will take place on Saturday, Nov. 18 at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Entering its second year in the MVC, Belmont looks to have even more success after capturing a runner-up finish at last fall’s MVC Women’s Cross Country Championship and earning fourth place at last season’s men’s championship race. With a host of newcomers, the Bruins return All-MVC performers Kevin and Kaitlyn Vanderkolk, Ethan Hammer and Katie Flaherty.
Belmont has won 14 combined conference team championships, including eight women’s titles and six men’s titles, in its NCAA Division I era.
Follow Belmont men’s and women’s cross country on social media – @BelmontXCTF on Twitter, @belmontmxc and @belmontwxc on Instagram, and @BUXCTF on Facebook – for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont’s athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
Source: Belmont Sports
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