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Lyons Announces 2015 Schedule
August 06, 2015 11:01 AM | Cross Country
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Director of Athletics Shane Lyons revealed today the WVU cross country team’s 2015 schedule.
To open the season, the Mountaineers will compete at home in the WVU Open on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
“A little bit new this year, we’ll have a home meet. It’ll be the first meet of the year against alumni,” said coach Sean Cleary. “The girls will be excited to race at home and to start off the season in early September. After that, everything falls into place.”
West Virginia travels to the Spiked Shoe Invitational in University Park, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 11, the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Kentucky, on Oct. 3, the Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin, on Oct. 16 and the Penn State Open in University Park, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 17.
“One of our goals this year is to be able to get on a course that the girls will see later on in the season near championship time,” said Cleary. “We had a decision to make whether to go to Louisville to preview the national course or to Princeton to preview the regional course. I concluded it was in our best interest to preview the national course. This is the first time in a while that the girls haven’t seen a regional championship course.”
Last year, West Virginia placed fifth at the Wisconsin Invitational, finishing ahead of 17 nationally ranked teams, seven of which ranked inside the USTFCCCA top 14.
“It’s awkward to throw a meet equivalent to the national championship in the middle of your season. The Wisconsin meet is a way for us to earn at-large points into nationals. For the first half of the season, all efforts are geared toward the Wisconsin meet,” said Cleary.
The 2015 Big 12 Cross Country Championship will be held in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Saturday, Oct. 31. The Mountaineers placed second in the conference for the second straight year in 2014.
“The Big 12 Conference is one of the premier conferences in the country. It’s a strong league from top to bottom,” said Cleary. “What’s unique about this conference is that the rest of the teams have coaches who coached teams to nationals. The Big 12 will be a great meet.”
The 2015 NCAA Regional will be held in Princeton, New Jersey, on Friday, Nov. 13. This will be the team’s first time back at Princeton since 2008 when it won the regional title. Last season West Virginia raced to a second-place finish and earned an automatic qualification to the championship.
“The NCAA Regional boasts a number of teams that have had success at the NCAA Championship over the last 10 years,” said Cleary. “Georgetown, Villanova, Penn State, Princeton and West Virginia have had multiple fillings in the top 10 at nationals.”
The NCAA Championship will be held in Louisville, Kentucky, on Nov. 21. The meet will serve as the final event of the 2015 season.
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