St. John's University Athletics
Jim Hurt Releases 2014 St. John's Cross Country Schedule
8/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Aug. 20, 2014
QUEENS, N.Y. - A return to the University's pristine Oakdale, New York campus, a pair of trips to the state of Indiana and a trio of meets at iconic Van Cortlandt Park, "The Mecca of American Cross Country," highlight the St. John's women's cross country team's 2014 schedule, released on Wednesday by head coach Jim Hurt who enters his 26th year at the helm of the program.
St. John's 2014 slate includes three invitationals and as many as five championship meets, three of which will be staged at the Red Storm's home away from home, Van Cordlandt Park in Bronx, New York.
"We have put together a challenging schedule that will test our team against the best teams in the country to prepare for the BIG EAST, NCAA Regional and ECAC championships at the end of the year," said Hurt. "We are excited to see how our cross country team improves as the season moves forward and how we will do in our championship meets."
For the second-consecutive year, St. John's will open its season as host of the SJU-Hofstra Fall XC Festival, set for Sunday, Sept. 7 on the University's Oakdale campus on Long Island. The Red Storm and other local colleges and universities will race the 4K distance, with St. John's looking to improve on its eighth-place team finish from last season.
On the second weekend of the season, the Red Storm will travel to South Bend, Indiana, on Friday, Sept. 19 to participate in the National Catholic Championships hosted by Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish topped 10 other women's teams at last year's 5K event. St. John's last took part in the National Catholic Championships in 2008, running well in South Bend to place 13th out of 35 teams.
After a two-week training period, St. John's will make its Van Cortlandt Park season debut on Friday, Oct. 10, to contest its first championship meet of the campaign at the 2014 Metropolitan Cross Country Championships. The race distance is set for 5K and the Red Storm will be looking to move up from its eighth-place finish out of 12 teams at last year's event.
The following weekend, St. John's will be in Princeton, New Jersey, to take part in the Princeton Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 18. Despite Princeton being a regular destination for the Red Storm during outdoor track & field season, the St. John's women's cross country team has never previously competed there.
On Friday, Oct. 31, the Red Storm makes its return to the state of Indiana to take part in the 2014 BIG EAST Cross Country Championship staged in Indianapolis. Fielding a group of seven sophomores in one of the most competitive conference championship meets in the country, St. John's finished with a team score of 299 in last year's inaugural championship meet of the new-look BIG EAST Conference in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The month of November will see the Red Storm close out its 2014 campaign with a trio of championship meets, starting with the NCAA Northeast Regional at Van Cortlandt Park which will be contested over 6K. The Northeast Regional is one of nine regional meets across the country that will serve as the qualifier for the 2014 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Nov. 22. The ECAC Championships, where St. John's ended its 2013 campaign, are also set for Nov. 22 at Van Cortlandt Park.
Coming off an injury-plagued 2013 season which saw a young St. John's squad gain invaluable experience at some of the biggest meets in the country, the Red Storm returns a number of seasoned veterans in 2014 and has its sights set on regional and conference contention.
To keep up to date on all team news this upcoming season, follow on Twitter @StJohnsXCTF and by using the hashtag #SJUXC. To be added to the St. John's women's cross country fans e-mail list, send a message to Edouard.Boulat13@stjohns.edu with the subject: "St. John's women's XC e-mail."