The Dordt University women's cross country team announced its schedule for the 2023 fall season.

• 2023 Women's Cross Country Schedule | 
• 2022 Women's Cross Country Results | 

Ranked eighth in the final NAIA Coaches' poll, the Defenders held their ranking and finished eighth for the third consecutive season at last year's NAIA championship. This was the Defenders sixth top 10 finish at the championship, all since the 2012 season. Jessica Kampman recorded a top 10 finish, placing ninth overall, and earned All-American honors for the second consecutive year.

Dordt won its third consecutive GPAC Championship and sixth in the last eight years under Head Coach Nate Wolf. Kampman won the GPAC title and was one of five Defender runners to claim all-conference honors (Kampman, Kristine Honomichl, Lucy Borkowski, Molly Mulder, Anika Homan). 

The 2023 schedule follows the same format as the previous seasons with the Defenders competing every other weekend beginning in early September. They have five regular season competitions over an eight-week span to prepare for the GPAC Championship, held this year on Nov. 4 in North Sioux City, S.D. The 2023 season ends with the NAIA National Championship, held once again in Vancouver, Washington, on Friday, Nov. 17. 

This will be the first season that the women will run a 6K in the championship-level races (GPAC, NAIA) as they begin to transition from the 5000m (5K). 

Dordt opens the season on September 9 with its home meet held on the beautiful Defenders Cross Country Course. The Defenders will then compete as a split squad at the Wildcat Classic, hosted by Wayne State (Neb.), and at the Roy Griak Invite, hosted by the University of Minnesota, on September 22. 

The Defenders will begin the month of October at the Briar Cliff Invite on Oct.7 in a GPAC Preview meet held on the same course as the conference championship in November. Coach Wolf's squad will get one more tune-up prior to the postseason as they plan to run at the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic, the only new competition on the 2023 schedule. 

Coach Wolf, who begins his ninth season as the head of the Defenders' program, returns 20 runners from the 2022 squad.

2023 Schedule

Date	Opponent	Notes
Sept.9	Dordt Sunflower Open	Home Meet; Defenders Cross Country Course
Sept.22	@ Wildcat Classic	split squad; Wayne Country Club  Wayne, Neb.
Sept.22	@ Roy Griak Invite	split squad; Les Bolstad Golf Course  Minneapolis, Minn.
Oct.7	@ Briar Cliff Invite	@ Adams Nature Preserve   N.Sioux City, S.D.
Oct.21	@ Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic	@ Mahoney State Park   Ashland, Neb.
Nov.4	@ GPAC Championship	@ Adams Nature Preserve   N.Sioux City, S.D.
Nov.17	@ NAIA Championship	@ Fort Vancouver National Historic Site   Vancouver, Wash.