University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Cross Country Announces 2017 Schedule
July 19, 2017 | Cross Country
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of North Carolina cross country program announced the 2017 schedule Wednesday, beginning with the Elon Opener in Elon, N.C on Sept. 2.
The schedule is shorter than in past years, with four meets instead of five outside of ACC and NCAA championships, but features new stops for the Tar Heels against high-level competition.
"Our schedule is a little different this year than it has been in past years, but the focus doesn't change," head coach Mark VanAlstyne said. "Every year our goal is to have opportunities to evaluate our team early and get the team competitive experience, such that when we get to the bigger meets later, we're prepared."
After beginning the season at the Elon Opener, as they did in 2016, the Tar Heels will head to Boone, N.C., on Sept. 16 for the Mountains to Sea Open. The Tar Heels will travel outside of North Carolina for the remainder of the schedule, including up to three stops in Louisville, Ky.
The University of Louisville will host the 2017 ACC Championships on Oct. 27 and the NCAA Championships on Nov. 18 at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park. The Tar Heels will also travel to to the Louisville Classic on Sept. 30 to gain experience on the course before the championship meets.
"Louisville is a good course, but it has its idiosyncrasies," VanAlstyne said. "It has a bottle neck probably 400 meters in, and they've done some construction over the past years to alleviate that somewhat, but it still places the emphasis on getting out well. So we hope to let our athletes experience that and develop a plan for success and the ability to be successful on it at those later meets. It's not a hilly course. It's a flat course. So I think if you navigate that tricky, early part it will be a good course for us."
Carolina will not travel to the Wisconsin Invitational for the first time in eight seasons, opting instead to travel to State College, Pa., on Oct. 13 for the Penn State National.
"We've loved going to Wisconsin in the past. It's a very good meet, but we just felt the need to do something different this year," VanAlstyne said. "With Penn State doing the Penn State National and having some really, really good teams come in, we felt like that would be a great opportunity to, number one, get some at large points for nationals qualification, but, two, see some place different and hopefully a different host of teams as competitors. It always boils down to ACCs and NCAAs, and we feel like this schedule prepares us to be ready for both of those meets."
The NCAA Southeast Regional will be held in Charlottesville, Va., on Nov. 10. It will be the fourth-straight year the Tar Heels compete on the course.
"We feel our schedule is one that prepares us for the level of competition we'll see at ACCs and certainly the southeast region when we attempt to gain a birth at finals," VanAlstyne said.
2017 Cross Country Schedule
Sat, Sept. 2 – Elon Opener (Elon, N.C.)
Sat, Sept. 16 – Mountains to Sea Open (Boone, N.C.)
Sat, Sept. 30 – Louisville Classic (Louisville, Ky.)
Fri, Oct. 13 – Penn State National (State College, Pa.)
Fri, Oct. 27 – ACC XC Championships (Louisville, Ky.)
Fri, Nov. 10 – NCAA Southeast Regional (Charlottesville, Va.)
Sat, Nov. 18 – NCAA XC Championships (Louisville, Ky.)
The schedule is shorter than in past years, with four meets instead of five outside of ACC and NCAA championships, but features new stops for the Tar Heels against high-level competition.
"Our schedule is a little different this year than it has been in past years, but the focus doesn't change," head coach Mark VanAlstyne said. "Every year our goal is to have opportunities to evaluate our team early and get the team competitive experience, such that when we get to the bigger meets later, we're prepared."
After beginning the season at the Elon Opener, as they did in 2016, the Tar Heels will head to Boone, N.C., on Sept. 16 for the Mountains to Sea Open. The Tar Heels will travel outside of North Carolina for the remainder of the schedule, including up to three stops in Louisville, Ky.
The University of Louisville will host the 2017 ACC Championships on Oct. 27 and the NCAA Championships on Nov. 18 at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park. The Tar Heels will also travel to to the Louisville Classic on Sept. 30 to gain experience on the course before the championship meets.
"Louisville is a good course, but it has its idiosyncrasies," VanAlstyne said. "It has a bottle neck probably 400 meters in, and they've done some construction over the past years to alleviate that somewhat, but it still places the emphasis on getting out well. So we hope to let our athletes experience that and develop a plan for success and the ability to be successful on it at those later meets. It's not a hilly course. It's a flat course. So I think if you navigate that tricky, early part it will be a good course for us."
Carolina will not travel to the Wisconsin Invitational for the first time in eight seasons, opting instead to travel to State College, Pa., on Oct. 13 for the Penn State National.
"We've loved going to Wisconsin in the past. It's a very good meet, but we just felt the need to do something different this year," VanAlstyne said. "With Penn State doing the Penn State National and having some really, really good teams come in, we felt like that would be a great opportunity to, number one, get some at large points for nationals qualification, but, two, see some place different and hopefully a different host of teams as competitors. It always boils down to ACCs and NCAAs, and we feel like this schedule prepares us to be ready for both of those meets."
The NCAA Southeast Regional will be held in Charlottesville, Va., on Nov. 10. It will be the fourth-straight year the Tar Heels compete on the course.
"We feel our schedule is one that prepares us for the level of competition we'll see at ACCs and certainly the southeast region when we attempt to gain a birth at finals," VanAlstyne said.
2017 Cross Country Schedule
Sat, Sept. 2 – Elon Opener (Elon, N.C.)
Sat, Sept. 16 – Mountains to Sea Open (Boone, N.C.)
Sat, Sept. 30 – Louisville Classic (Louisville, Ky.)
Fri, Oct. 13 – Penn State National (State College, Pa.)
Fri, Oct. 27 – ACC XC Championships (Louisville, Ky.)
Fri, Nov. 10 – NCAA Southeast Regional (Charlottesville, Va.)
Sat, Nov. 18 – NCAA XC Championships (Louisville, Ky.)
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