THIBODAUX, La. -- After beginning the season at the UNO Opener and having a weekend off, The Nicholls State University cross country teams will host the fourth annual Nicholls XC Invitational, at Nicholls Farm on Saturday, Sept. 17. The major regional event will include collegiate, high school, and community races.

WHAT: 4th Annual Nicholls XC Invitational
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 17 | 8 a.m. (W); 8:30 a.m. (M)
WHERE: Nicholls Farm | Thibodaux, La.

The eight-team collegiate field will feature instate foes Loyola New Orleans, Xavier New Orleans, Southern, Dillard, and Southeastern. Also making the trip to compete and preview the course before the Southland Conference Championship in late October is brand new Division I and SLC member Texas A&M Commerce, and regionally ranked UIW (men 6th; women 11th).

Nicholls head cross country coach Stefanie Slekis is pleased to welcome both in-state and out-of-state competitors this weekend.

"We are really excited to welcome three Southland Conference universities to our home meet to preview the course for the Southland Conference Championship especially regionally ranked UIW, Slekis said. "It is always great to have our local Universities attend Southern, Loyola, Xavier, and Dillard for an eight-team University field."

Slekis showed appreciation to those that helped maintain the course and get it ready to host such a large event.

"Even with all the rain in August Dr. Fontenot and his team from the Biological Science department have done a tremendous amount of work to get our course ready to welcome community members, as well as University, and High school competitors, Slekis said. "Although Hurricane Ida set us back a year in growing our home meet, we are thrilled to have entries from over 20 high schools and look forward to hosting a great morning of racing."

The Colonels have adjusted their preparation to try to earn the best results possible.

"As a team, we are looking forward to racing a bit further than the opener and to running more of the full course in a competitive setting," Slekis stated. "We just got out there to train for the first time this week and I was really impressed with how everyone handled the volume and intensity of the session on the last 2k of the course."

UP NEXT
Following the first home meet of the 2022 campaign, the Colonels will make the short drive to Baton Rouge to compete in the LSU Invitational on Sept. 23.

STAY SOCIAL
For more information on Colonels Track & Field/Cross Country, follow the team on Twitter (@Nicholls_XCTF), Instagram (@geauxcolonels), and like their Facebook page (Nicholls Athletics).