Cross country announces 2020 campaign

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Simpson men's and women's cross country head coach Heath Moenck has released the 2020 schedules as both teams bring back six of their seven top runners from 2019.

The Storm men ended last season with a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Central Region Championships for the program's second top-10 placing in the last three seasons. Freshman Spencer Moon led the team by grabbing 30th to become Simpson's first freshman to receive all-region honors since 1995.

The men ran to a sixth-place finish and the women produced an eighth-place nod at the 2019 American Rivers Conference Championships. The men were ranked as high as No. 8 in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Central Region rankings last year for just the second time in school history to tie their best placing.

The 2020 campaign begins on Sept. 4 as Pickard Park plays the host for the Bill Buxton Invitational for the Storm's only home meet of the year. Both squads will then travel to Northfield, Minnesota for the St. Olaf Invitational on Sept. 19 to serve as a preview for when the regional championships take place on the same course in November.

October showcases three meets for Simpson, first with the Dan Huston Invitational, hosted by Wartburg, on Oct. 3, then a trip to Ettrick, Wisconsin on Oct. 17 for the Drews/Neubauer Invitational. The Storm end the month with the A-R-C Championships in Decorah, Iowa on Halloween.

Simpson returns to Northfield, Minnesota on Nov. 14 for the NCAA Central Region Championships for a chance to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Indiana.