ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University men's and women's cross-country teams have released their schedule for the upcoming 2022 season.

The schedule features four meets in the three states of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama. The Trojans will travel down the road to Spartanburg for the Converse Kick-Off Classic on Sept. 17.

"The Converse meet has become more and more competitive over the last few years as teams look to open their seasons on a fantastic course," said coach Kevin Eagle. "Our goal for this one is to simply get racing legs back under us. This will be the first competition for most since May, so it will play as a rust-buster for us as we compete as quality teams."

The next two meets will be the Queen City Invite (Sept. 23) and the Royal's Challenge (Oct. 7) in Charlotte, N.C. hosted by Queens University. Before the start of the post-season, Anderson will travel to Huntsville, Alabama for the DII Festival Year Showcase on October 22.

"Both meets at Queens bring some of the top teams not only in the region, but also the country," said Eagle. "We look forward to racing here each year as it allows our runners to compete with some of the best runners around. This course also plays host to the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships, so they will play as a course preview for our runners."

"The Huntsville meet is a new one for us, but it looks to be a great meet as UAH is able to bring in some of the top schools in the country to attend this meet," said Eagle. "As we prepare for our championship portion of our schedule, this meet will allow us to continue working on race strategy while racing against some of the best runners in the NCAA."

The South Atlantic Conference Cross Country Championships are scheduled for November 5th in Salisbury, N.C. with the NCAA Regional Championships two weeks later in Charlotte, N.C. The NCAA National Championships are being hosted in Seattle, Washington on Saturday, December 3rd.

"Our goal is to qualify both teams to the NCAA National Championship meet. To do that, we must finish top-3 within the region," said Eagle. "With nationals being in Seattle this year as part of the festival, I would love to bring both teams to compete. On a conference level, I know that both teams can finish top-two if we execute the race plan properly. "

2021 was a historic season for the women's team as they clinched their third trip to the national championship.

"Our women have qualified for the NCAA Championship meet 3 of the last 4 years that the meet has been held," said Eagle. "We are looking to continue this trend each year, but also look to finish higher than we have in the final standings. With only losing one runner who competed at the national meet last year, we have a great squad returning who now has experience on the national stage. We also have a strong class of freshmen coming in who should contribute right away. If all goes to plan, this women's team can be a top 25 team in the NCAA."

Full Schedule:

Sept. 17             Converse Kick-Off Classic          Spartanburg, S.C.
Sept. 23             Queen City Invite                     Charlotte, N.C.
Oct. 7                 Royal's Challenge                     Charlotte, N.C.
Oct. 22               D-II Festival Year Showcase      Huntsville, AL
Nov. 5                SAC XC Championships             Salisbury, N.C.
Nov. 19              NCAA Regional Championships   Charlotte, N.C.
Dec. 3                NCAA National Championships    Seattle, WA