2021 SUFFOLK MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY SCHEDULE | 2021 SUFFOLK WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY SCHEDULE
BOSTON – Suffolk cross country is in store for six races over a nine-week span in addition to postseason appearances in 2021, head coach Will Feldman announced.
"We're looking forward to finally getting back onto the course and competing this season," Feldman said. "We've built a challenging schedule this season, and it should have us prepared to compete for a conference championship this year," Feldman said.
Action gets underway Friday, Sept. 3 when the Rams welcome teams to Franklin Park for the Suffolk Short Course Classic.
From there, Suffolk takes a week to prep for the UMass Dartmouth Invitational, which is set for Saturday, Sept. 18.
Two weeks later the blue-and-gold opens October at the Lehigh's Paul Short Invitational Friday, Oct. 1.
It's right back to the Bay State eight days later for Westfield State's James Early Invite Saturday, Oct. 9.
The regular-season wraps up the same way it started, at Franklin Park. Over 30 teams will converge in Boston Saturday, Oct. 16 for the third Suffolk Invite, which duels as the Battle for Boston Common, a head-to-head battle between the Rams and Lions of Emerson. Both of Suffolk's squads have taken home the title of the friendly competition with its Beantown neighbor since the inception in the 2018 campaign.
The Suffolk Invite serves as final prep before the Rams race on the championship courses, its first being the 2021 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship on tap for Saturday, Oct. 30 at Western New England in Springfield, Massachusetts. It'll be the first season the blue-and-gold vie for a CCC title after the department switched to the league in 2020-21.
"We're excited to start a new chapter of the program this year with the move to the CCC," Feldman said. "The CCC has some excellent cross country teams, and I'me ager to see how we stack up this season."
After a conference champion is crowned, Suffolk's sights turn to regionals, which will have a fresh look this season. In July 2021 the NCAA DIII Men's and Women's Track & Field and Cross Country Committee, as well as the Division III Championships Committee approved a 10-region realignment model for cross country effective Sept. 1, 2021.
Following the region adjustment, Suffolk was announced as the East Region host, which marks the first time not only the Rams' cross country programs, but the University's Athletic Department will put on a NCAA postseason event.
The 2021 regionals races are set across the country for Saturday, Nov. 13. Suffolk will welcome the best-of-the-best from Maine, New Hampshire and Eastern Massachusetts to the Rams' familiar course of Franklin Park for the NCAA DIII East Regional.
Pending performances in at regionals, Suffolk could send student-athletes to Louisville, Kentucky for the NCAA DIII National Championships set for Saturday, Nov. 20 at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.