ANDERSON, S.C. – Following a successful season debut in Charlotte last weekend, the Anderson University men's and women's cross country teams are set to compete at both the 8th Annual UNG Cross Country Invitational and at the Biscuit 8k/6k Collegiate Invite, Saturday morning.
North Georgia will host its invitational at the Nighthawks' Gainesville Campus in Oakwood, Ga., with the men's 8K race scheduled for a 9:30 a.m. start, while the women's 5K is slated to start at 10:30 a.m. Joining the Trojans in the mountains of north Georgia will be six men's teams alongside ten women's squads, including Brenau (women), Columbus State, Lander, Life (women), North Georgia (women), Piedmont, Reinhardt (women), Shorter, West Georgia, and Young Harris.
This meet will be run on the North Georgia Cross Country Course, which was home to the 2015 and 2020 Peach Belt Conference Championships and the 2018 and 2020 NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Cross Country Southeast Regionals. The course is generally set up as a large and open one mile loop with the 5K race featuring three laps and the 8K race completing five laps. The course is all grass and dirt and is considered "flat and fast.
The Nighthawk women's squad will be seeking its fourth straight team championship, while defending men's champion West Alabama will not be making an appearance this year.
Spartanburg Methodist will host The Biscuit Collegiate Invite at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, N.C., with the men's 8K event set for a 9:30 a.m. start and the women's race scheduled to begin at 10:10 a.m.
Men's teams that will make an appearance include Anderson, Bob Jones, Campbellville-Herrodsburg, Cleveland Community College, Florida College, Louisburg College, the host Pioneers and Truett-McConnell. Women's squads include AU, Bob Jones, Columbia College, Florida College, Spartanburg and Truett-McConnell.
Saturday will mark the Trojans' first appearance at The Biscuit, while AU made a pair of appearances on the Oakwood course during the 2018 campaign – first at the 6th Annual UNG Invitational, then at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships.
The AU women's team finished third at that regional championship, just behind Queens and Flagler, while earning their second straight berth in the NCAA National Championships. Melea Sangl (17th) and Olivia Evans (19th) each garnered All-Region honors with top-20 finishes, while Olivia Rish finished 33rd and Lydia Gambrel crossed the finish line in 60th place.
The Trojan men claimed fifth at the 2018 NCAA Regionals, with Phillip Quillen (40th), Ben Clark (42nd), Noah McLain (75th) and Thomas Sutcliffe (89th) running the 10K course.
No spectators will be allowed at either the site due to coronavirus restrictions.
