The Butler men's and women's cross country programs have introduced their 2012 schedule, which includes six meets that were not on the schedule for the 2011 season, including trips as far south as Texas and as far north as South Dakota.
The Grizzlies, under third year coach Jeff Becker, will compete in 11 meets, including eight regular season and three postseason competitions.
"I am very excited about the upcoming season. We have a great schedule that opens at Allen County on the 24th of August," Becker said. "A couple of big meets on our schedule are meets in Austin, Texas and later in the season as the teams will travel to South Dakota."
The Butler harriers will kick off the season in Iola at the Allen County Duals, before making the short trip to Augusta for Wichita State University's J.K. Gold Classic at RAFT Ranch the following week.
Their next five events are new to the regular season schedule for 2012. The first of which will be a trip to the Colby Community College Invitational on Sept. 7, followed by a race in Hutchinson at the Blue Dragon Invitational on Sept. 15. Then after a week of rest, the squad will take their first jaunt out of Kansas by traveling to Austin, Texas on Sept. 28 for The Grass Routes Festival. The next week it will be another trip to northwest Kansas for the Fort Hays State Invitational. The last of the new regular season meets is the University of South Dakota's Tim Young Invitational in Vermillion, S.D. on Oct. 13.
The final regular season meet is Butler's very own Ollie Isom Invitational on Oct. 19 at Wartick Ranch, which is located approximately four miles south of campus.
On Oct. 29, the postseason schedule kicks off with the Region VI Championships in Overland Park. Nearly two weeks after the Region VI event, Butler will compete at the NJCAA Championships on Nov. 10 in Ida, Ill. This season Butler also has added a new post-season event with the NJCAA Half-Marathon Championships in Levelland, Texas, on Nov. 17.
