Earlier today, The Stride Report received a media release update from Northern Arizona's Athletic Department stating that athletic directors (and school presidents) in the BIG Sky Conference have approved a proposal from head coaches to compete in cross country this fall. No other sports were mentioned in the release.
Teams in the BIG Sky will be allowed to compete in up to two meets this fall. According to one source, the BIG Sky XC Championships are still not expected to be held in 2020.
According to the release, both Northern Arizona's men's (TSR #1) and women's (TSR #18) teams will be racing at the Oklahoma State Invitational next Saturday on October 17th. Based on the release, this would also give the opportunity for the Weber State men (TSR #23) and other BIG Sky programs to race this fall.
The release also stated that, "All student-athletes and staff who are traveling must adhere to strict COVID-19 testing protocol, and masks are required for those attending at all times with the exception of participating athletes."
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On October 5th, the Southern Conference announced that they will be rescheduling their 2020 Southern Conference XC Championships to November 21st. The meet will be held in Macon, Georgia.
The release states that "The decision to move the cross country championships back to the fall was made in an effort to minimize conflict with the indoor track and field season and championships as well as to reduce the amount of spring events created when fall sports were moved to the spring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic."
The Southern Conference is often headlined by the Furman men (TSR #25) and women, the defending champions from last year's Southern Conference Championships.