The No.9 Dordt University women's cross country team delivered a dominant performance on their home course Saturday morning, capturing the team title at the Sunflower Open with a near-perfect score of 16 points.

• Results | PDF

Freshman Joy Koole led the Defenders with a standout collegiate debut, winning the individual title in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 18:32.56. Koole's strong finish helped spark a sweep of the top four places for Dordt.

Joining Koole at the front of the pack were freshman Addy Liston (2nd, 18:39.09), sophomore Hannah Thong (3rd, 19:03.99), and senior Jessica Opfer (4th, 19:05.37). Senior Courtney Joiner rounded out the scoring five with a sixth-place finish in 19:13.39.

"Joy had an incredible debut, winning her first collegiate race, in hot and humid conditions.  It was great to see her strength come through over the last 800m of the race.  Addy and Elyse also had fantastic college debuts, with Addy finishing runner-up to Joy and Elyse racing to a top 10 individual finish. 

The quartet of Defender runners, Koole, Liston, Thong and Opfer, moved to the front of the pack in the opening moments and ran together for the majority of the race. The two Dordt freshmen, Koole and Liston, pulled away over the final mile while Thong and Opfer stayed close together as they crossed the finish line.

Dordt's top seven runners all placed within the top 10, including junior Jaci Burtis (7th, 19:23.92) and sophomore Jenna Hursh (8th, 19:26.18). 

"It was a strong day for the women's team," said Dordt University Head Coach Nate Wolf. "We focused on packing up and working together throughout the race.  The ladies did an excellent job of this, crossing the line 1-4 and 7-11.  The density of the women's team is what makes it a special group and provides many opportunities for each other to push and be pushed to strong performances." 

Dordt finished well ahead of second-place Dakota State (50 points) and third-place College of Saint Mary (72 points) in a field that featured five full teams and two partial teams.

By the Numbers:

• the Defenders team time was 1:34:34 with an average of 18:54
• Dordt's 1-5 split was 41 seconds; 1-7 split was 56 seconds
• Ten Defenders ran personal best times while nine Dordt runners turned in their best finish
  • Personal Bests:
    • Hannah Thong - 29 seconds
    • Courtney Joiner - 12 seconds
    • Jenna Hursh - 51 seconds
    • Addy Crow - 1:02
    • Arielle DeYoung - 1:13
    • Hope Tebben - 49 seconds
    • Emma Morey - 7 seconds
    • Olivia Kraayenbrink - 1:41
    • Addison Essebaggers - 17 seconds
    • Jada Abrahamson - 52 seconds
  • Best Finish:
    • Hannah Thong 
    • Jenna Hursh
    • Addy Crow
    • Arielle DeYoung
    • Eden Sullivan
    • Olivia Kraayenbrink
    • Jada Abrahamson
    • Adriana Van Maanen
• a total of 73 runners competed in today's 5K race
• Dordt had 35 runners compete

Defender Notes:

• Jessica Opfer recorded her team-best sixth top 10 finish of her career
• Jaci Burtis (5th top 10), Courtney Joiner (5th top 10)  and Hannah Thong (4th top 10)
• Molly Hulstein has finished among the top 25 in 12 meets for her career
• Jada Koerner (8th top 25) and Olivia Hoogland (5th top 25) are next
• this was the first top 10 finish for Jenna Hursh and second top 25 finish for both Addy Crow and Megan Courtright
• Dordt has won five of its last six regular season meets

Up Next: 

• the Defenders will send a partial squad to compete at the Roy Griak Invite on Friday, Sept. 19