NAMPA, Idaho - Northwest Nazarene cross country has released their schedule for the 2021 season this afternoon.

After the COVID-19 pandemic took away the 2020 fall slate and resulted in a shortened spring season with no postseason possibilities, this fall will look much more familiar with a full schedule and fans allowed to attend. 

The Nighthawks open the 2021 campaign in Twin Falls at the College of Southern Idaho Invite on Sept. 3, their only scheduled meet in the Mountain time zone. Two weeks later they go to the Eastern Oregon Invite in La Grande before heading to the west coast in back-to-back weekends to open October, competing in meets hosted by Willamette and Western Washington on the 2nd and 9th. 

The GNAC Championships are set to be held on the campus of Saint Martin's on Oct. 23. In November, NCAA Regionals will be in Monmouth, Ore. and the NCAA Championships will be in Saint Leo, Fla. 

NNU is coming off the shortened spring season that saw them compete in just one meet - the College of Idaho Ice Chipper on Feb. 5, 2021. At the meet, both the men and women placed second as a team, with Tyler Shea winning the race on the men's side and Kalen Johnson taking third for the women.

In their last full season in 2019, the women finished fifth at the GNAC Championships but pulled off a stunning runner-up finish at the NCAA West Regional to qualify for the NCAA National Championships. On the men's side, NNU placed fourth at GNACs and Shea qualified for Nationals as an individual.