Cross Country Announces 2018 Schedule

FULL SCHEDULE

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's and women's cross country teams, led by 12th-year head coach Mike Nelson, have announced the schedule for the 2018 season.

The Golden Eagles will compete in seven meets before the NCAA Championships, which return to the state of Wisconsin for the first time since 1985. The season kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 8, with the Vic Godfrey Open hosted by UW-Parkside at the Dannehl XC Course in Somers – the same course MU hosted the 2017 BIG EAST Championships last October.

"The first meet is a nice way to open the season as it's going to be competitive, but not overwhelming," Nelson said. "It'll be a good way to get the ball rolling into the season at a course we're familiar with. A rust buster of sorts and close in proximity, so no missed class time."

Marquette follows up with another short trip, heading to Madison to get a first look at the site of the NCAA Championships, competing at the Badger Classic on Sept. 14.

"This year, we wanted an opportunity to compete on the course that will host the 2018 National Championships," Nelson said. "It's another course we're familiar with at a meet that will provide some good competition."

The Golden Eagles will use two weeks to prepare for the Louisville Classic on Sept. 29, returning to this meet for the first time since 2016.

"Louisville is the course that hosted the national championships last year and our athletes have really enjoyed racing at this meet in the past." Nelson said.

MU returns to the Bradley "Pink" Classic (Oct. 12) for the second year-in-a-row, heading to Peoria, Illinois, to race at the spectator-friendly Newman Golf Course.

"Newman is a championship-level course that is hosting both the Missouri Valley Championships and the Midwest Regional Championships in 2018," Nelson said. "It's also a great spectator course and that is very helpful in being able to coach our athletes."

The Illini Open (Oct. 19) adds a new meet to the schedule in 2018 and provides the final tune-up leading to the 2018 BIG EAST Championships.

"This meet will help us determine our conference squad, while offering a great opportunity for our developing runners as we try to finalize our roster for the BIG EAST Championships," Nelson said.

The BIG EAST Championships (Oct. 27) return to Northview Church in Carmel, Indiana, where Butler will serve as host for the first time since 2014. Last season, the Golden Eagles featured its best team finish on the women's side and two All-BIG EAST performers on the men's, including a first-ever top-10 finish as Daniel Pederson placed eighth followed by Alec Miller in 17th. Both the men and women registered their best-ever total scores at a BIG EAST meet.

"Overall, it's a solid cross country course that we look forward to racing on," Nelson said. "We hope to improve upon our positive finishes and scores from a year ago. The goal is to get championship-level healthy and in great shape so we can go out and perform our best."

For the second-straight year, the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship (Nov. 9) will be hosted by Indiana State at the Lavern Gibson XC Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. The course is no stranger to big meets, having hosted 12 national championships in addition to many other championship-caliber meets.

The national championship returns to the state of Wisconsin for the first time since 1985 when Marquette was the host at Dretzka Park in Milwaukee and M-Club Hall of Famer Keith Hanson ('86) took third place overall.

The University of Wisconsin gets the nod this year, hosting for the first time since 1978. The meet will take place at the Zimmer XC Course on Saturday, Nov. 17.

Keep up with the Marquette cross country program through social media by following on Twitter (@MUTFXC) and Instagram (@MUTFXC) and `liking' on Facebook (/MUTFXC).

Players Mentioned

Alec Miller

Daniel Pederson

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