POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist men's and women's cross country programs, headed by Director of Cross Country Pete Colaizzo and Associate Head Coach Chuck Williams, have announced the 2019 schedule of competitions. The Red Foxes will travel to nine meets across three states in the fall to race the best in the northeast.

The Marist Season Opener will take place on August 31 at Vassar Farms, beginning at 9 a.m. The Red Foxes' home meet will be followed by Senior Day for the cross country and track and field programs, where the members of the graduating class will be honored.

The Siena Invitational is the following weekend on September 7, where Marist will compete against MAAC rivals Siena as well as other squads from around the region. The race will take place at the Crossings of Colonie, the site of last season's MAAC Championships.

On September 21, the Marist runners travel to New Jersey for the Henry Mercer Monmouth Invitational. The meet will be held at Holmdel Park, the location for the 2019 MAAC Cross Country Championships.

On October 5, the Red Foxes will take part in the biggest meet in the country at the Paul Short Run, hosted by Lehigh University. Last season, the women placed 10^th out of 41 teams in the prestigious Gold Division, while the men took eighth out of 44 teams in the Brown Division.

The squads will split up for the weekend of October 18-19, with Red Foxes competing at the Albany Invitational and the Princeton Invitational. These meets will serve as the teams' last tune-up before the conference championships.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships will be held at Holmdel Park on November 2. In 2018, the women took second place overall, and the men placed sixth. This competition will mark the beginning of the cross country championship season.

The NCAA Northeast Regionals will be on November 15, held in Buffalo, NY. The Red Foxes will face the best the region has to offer in this stacked competition.

The cross country season will come to a close at the ECAC/IC4A Cross Country Championships on November 23, taking place at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, NY. Marist performs well at this meet annually, with the women placing second and the men taking ninth a season ago.

"With our season schedule set, we are really excited about the upcoming 2019 cross country season. Coming off of back-to-back 11th place finishes at the Northeast regional meet, we are looking to improve with the combination of great returning talent and one of our biggest incoming freshmen classes," stated Associate Head Coach Chuck Williams. "The first truly important meet will be the Monmouth Invitational where we get to preview the MAAC championship course. After that, our focus will be on the Paul Short Invitational as it is the first chance we get to run in a big meet with national-caliber competition. This meet always serves as a great barometer to see where we stand against some of the best competition from not only our region, but from teams all over the country."