NEW HAVEN, Conn. - After a successful 2022 cross country season resulting in a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional with a young team, the Bulldogs are excited to return all but two runners to the grass this season for their 2023 campaign. The 2023 cross country schedule was released Thursday, with the first competition set for Sept. 9: the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet. HYP will take place at Allen's Meadows Park in Wilton, Conn., this year.
The team will be led by senior captain Kyra Pretre this fall, and she will look to guide the Bulldogs to a top-five finish in the region. With a more experienced team this year and four new additions, the Bulldogs are in great shape to improve in team scoring. This will be Coach Taryn Sheehan's fifth year with the Bulldogs, and she has prepared them well to be competitive in the conference and the region.
Here is a breakdown of the 2023 schedule:
- The team will open the season in Wilton, Conn., on September 9th for the Harvard-Yale-Princeton tri-meet.
- The team will head to Franklin Park on September 23rd to compete in the Codfish Bowl Invitational. The Ivy League Heptagonal Championships will take place at the same course later in the fall.
- On September 30th, the team will head to Bethlehem, Pa., to compete in Lehigh's Paul Short Run. This meet often draws in some of the best teams in the country.
- On October 13th and 14th the team will divide to compete in the ECAC Championships and the Pre-National Invitational. The ECAC Championships will occur on Friday, October 13th at the historic Van Cortlandt Park where the NCAA Northeast Regional Meet will be held in November. The Pre-National Invitational will be hosted by UVA on Saturday, October 14th in Charlottesville, Va. This meet will give the Bulldogs the opportunity to preview the course that will be the site of the NCAA National Championships this year. Last year, Kosana Weir '22.5 was one spot out of advancing to the prestigious national meet, and there is a chance that members of the Bulldogs may individually qualify this year.
- On October 20th, a contingent of the Bulldogs will compete at the CCSU Mini Meet in New Britain, Conn.
- On October 28th the Bulldogs will head back to Franklin Park to compete in the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships. After a sixth-place finish last year, the Bulldogs are hungry to compete and show how much they have improved.
- On November 10th, the top seven Bulldogs will return to Van Cortlandt Park to "rep the Y" against the best in the northeast at NCAA Regionals.
- Based on the results of the regional meet, the Bulldogs may have the opportunity to return to Charlottesville on November 18th to compete at the NCAA Championships.
