JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman Cross Country coach Tyler Stepp releases the Eagles schedule for the 2018 season.

The Eagles have some differentiations from their contests last year with the additions of the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational and the Royals Challenge. Those replace the Tusculum Open and the Asheville Cross Country Invitational.

Beginning the season, the Eagles will hit the road on September 14th heading to the Lenoir-Rhyne invitational. 

Hosted by the Eagles, the Battle at Mossy Creek will be next on the list on September 28th. The Eagles fared well in this competition last season with Luke Greer picking up a victory and the men overall coming in second place while the women placed third in the contest.   

October 12th will be the last regular season competition for the Eagles as they log a few more miles in a trip to Queens (Charlotte) for the Royals Challenge.

To end the 2017 schedule the Eagles will have a set of opportunities to win titles at the SAC Championships at Queens, the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship at Montevallo and the NCAA DII National Championships at Pittsburgh State. 

Previously in the SAC Championships the men placed seventh overall while the women placed eighth in the contest. Luke Greer (Abington, Northampton, United Kingdom) came in second in last years championship with now sophomore runner, Kelvin Ronoh (Kenya), coming in 15th as the next Eagle to cross the finish line. On the women's side Priscah Jemeli (Eldoret, Kenya) came in 21st place as the First Lady Eagle to finish while Bekah White (Rockford, Tenn.) came in behind her at 47th place. 

The Eagles improved upon their overall standings in the Southeast Regional Championships last season from the previous year and look to climb up the ladder again this year on November 17th. In last year's meet the men placed 12th overall while the women came in at 14th overall. Greer earned All-Southeast Region honors for his efforts in last year's race coming in at fourth place. 

Capping off the season will be the NCAA DII National Championships held at Pittsburgh State on December 1st. Last season Greer was the first Eagle to qualify for the competition since 2005 and had a 42nd place finish.

"As we grow and get better so do the teams in our conference," Carson-Newman head Cross Country coach Tyler Stepp said. "I have a lot of respect for the other coaches in our conference and they're growing and building as fast as we are. We just want to grow with the people we've got right now and see what we can do. Our goal is to get back to the NCAA Championships, that was a great experience for us last year and somewhere we want to be every year after that."

- CN -