The Valparaiso men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete four times, including once over their home course at Sunset Hills Farm Park, before heading to the Horizon League Championships as head coach Mike Straubel released the teams’ schedules today.

The schedule opens up at home for the 15th consecutive year, as the Crusaders take to the course at Sunset Hills Farm Park to host the annual Crusader Invitational on Friday, Sept. 5.  Two weeks later, on Friday, Sept. 19, the squads head down to Bloomington to compete at the Indiana Intercollegiates.

Notre Dame is the next destination, as the Crusaders will run in the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday, Oct. 3.  The final tuneup for the league championship meet will be the NCAA Pre-Nationals, hosted this year by Indiana State, on Saturday, Oct. 18.

Valpo will venture outside of Indiana for the only time on the season for the Horizon League Championships, hosted by Green Bay, on Saturday, Nov. 1.  Two weeks later, the NCAA Great Lakes Regional will be held in West Lafayette, and the NCAA Cross Country Championships will be contested on Nov. 24 in Terre Haute.

The Crusader women’s squad returns nine runners from last year’s team that finished fourth at the Horizon League Championships, including 2007 Horizon League Champion Laura Rolf, who is looking for her third consecutive trip to the NCAA national meet.  On the men’s side, 13 runners return from the 2007 squad that placed fifth at the Horizon League Championships.