NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State University Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Kenneth Giles released the Spartans' 2019 cross country schedule on Monday.

The slate features three top-flight competitions for each team prior to the MEAC Championships in late October.

Both the NSU men and women open up with two meets hosted by the University of Virginia. The season-opener is set for Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Cavalier Classic in Earlysville. The men's race is four miles in length, which the women's race is 5,000 meters.

Both Spartan teams are back in Earlysville on Sept. 27 for the Panorama Farms Invitational. The meet, which includes a 6K women's race and 8K men's race, gets underway at 10 a.m.

For the only time during the season, the two NSU teams head to separate meets the weekend of Oct. 18-19. The women compete on Friday evening, Oct. 18 at the 6K East Carolina Pirate Invitational in Greenville, North Carolina. The following day, the men race in the 8K Under Armour Pre-National Invitational at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, the site of November's NCAA Championship.

The 2019 MEAC Cross Country Championships are on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Delaware State University. The NCAA Southeast Regional is Nov. 15 and will be hosted by U.Va., and the national championship race is at Indiana State on Nov. 23.

The NSU women return four of their top five runners from last year's MEAC runner-up team, including two-time MEAC cross country champion Martha Bissah. The men welcome back three runners who have previously earned All-MEAC honors in Festus Bett, Anteneh Girma and Kamil Jihad, and welcome several key newcomers.