Cross Country Announces 2017 Schedule
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete at six events over the course of the 2017 regular season, culminating with the ACC Championships on Oct. 27 at the University of Louisville.
By then, the Hurricanes will already have had a taste of Cardinal Park, where they go on Sept. 30 for the Greater Louisville Classic. This will be the first time since 2010 the Canes compete in Derby City, which will also host the NCAA Championships in November.
“Being able to go to Louisville early in the season will help prepare our athletes for the terrain and the course,” Miami distance coach Damon Griffiths said. “It’s the course that will also be hosting the national meet at the end of the road, but to get two opportunities on it before then would be fantastic.”
All other events at which The U will run over the course of the 2017 season will be in the Sunshine State. The Canes, who return seven men and seven women, will line up at the start line for the first time on Sept. 1, when they will travel to Boca Raton, Fla., for the FAU Invitational. Last season’s women’s race was won by Miami’s then-senior Gabrielle Hesslau with a time of 18:35.3.
“This year the women’s team will be led by Anne den Otter,” Griffiths said. “We are looking at her to be our lead runner. With the young group that we have coming in, we are expecting to continue moving up the ranks and hopefully to continue blossoming as a team.
“Having a bunch of veterans on the men’s team coming into the season is beneficial for us,” Griffiths said. “They are a lot more mature going into their junior and senior years. We should be able to plug in a couple of freshmen and transfers to be able to solidify that top seven.”
A week later Miami will host the annual Miami Duals, which will be the Canes’ opportunity to run in front of home fans in 2017. Last season, both the men’s team and the women’s team recorded victories over crosstown rival FIU at Larry and Penny Thompson Park.
Miami will then go to Gainesville, Fla., to compete in the University of Florida’s Mountain Dew Invitational on Sept. 23. The Hurricanes have participated in the event in each of the last six seasons. The men’s team finished fourth of 11 Division I team in 2016.
The last test for Miami before the conference championships will be another event it is familiar with – the USF Invitational, which will take place in Tampa on Oct. 13.
Similarly to every other season, the Canes’ goal will be to extend their season into November and send runners to the NCAA Regional Championships on Nov. 10 and the NCAA Championships eight days later.
For more information on the 2017 cross country schedule, click here.
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