The Dordt University women's cross country team won the 2026 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Championship with a perfect score of 15 points this morning at the Defenders home course.
The Defenders, ranked No.1 in the last three NAIA Coaches' poll, secure one of the two automatic bids to the 2026 NAIA National Cross Country National Championship held this year at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash. on Nov.20.
Dordt totaled a perfect score of 15 points, placing all five of its scoring runners among the top five finishers overall. This is the second time in the history of the women's conference championship (GPAC - since 2000, NIAC - since 1979) that a team earned a perfect score. The Defenders didn't end there, however, as they had three additional runners finish in the top 12 and placed all 10 in the top 23.
This is the seventh consecutive GPAC title won by the Defenders and their 13th overall, surpassing Nebraska Wesleyan for the most conference championships won in in the GPAC and NIAC years (1979 - present).
Joy Koole, a year after finishing as the GPAC runner-up, claimed the top spot in this year's conference championship with a 6K time of 21:11.2. Koole, along with her Defender teammates Addy Liston and Bailey VanderGriend, ran together for much of the race before pulling away over the final 800m.
Liston crossed the finish line in second place with a personal-best time of 21:18, eight seconds faster than her previous best run earlier this season at Augustana. VanderGriend finished third overall with an 8000m time of 21:34, just ahead of Defenders teammate Addy Crow, who placed fourth with a personal best time of 21:35, 14 seconds ahead of her previous best.
Hannah Thong was the fifth and final scorer for the Defenders, placing fifth with a five-seconds personal best time of 21:40, matching her place from the 2025 GPAC Championship.
Two additional Dordt runners, Jeni Burtis and Katie Young, placed in the top 10, giving the Defenders seven finishers among the top 10. Burtis came across the finish line in eighth place (22:07) while Young, competing in her first GPAC Championship, placed ninth with a personal-best time of 22:14.
Isabella Webb finished 12th (22:33), her fourth consecutive top 15 placing at the GPAC Championship. Natalie Smith (17th - 22:42) ran a personal best time by 14 seconds and Elyse Zwart (23rd - 22:54) close out the Dordt runners.
"The women went into the meet today with a goal of staying connected throughout the race and I thought they did that very well in the early part of the race, racing as a single pack," said Dordt University Head Coach Nate Wolf. "Over the last half of the race, the group was able to connect within their smaller packs and gain strength from each other. Addy Liston did an outstanding job of setting the pace throughout the race with solid support from Joy Koole as the race developed into the late stages. Those two women continue to their strong seasons with outstanding championship efforts. Bailey VanderGriend, Addy Crow, and Hannah Thong worked very well together throughout the later stages of the race to put the 1-5 pack through the finish in less than 30 seconds. Jeni Burtis and Katie Young raced well to keep the 1-7 gap at a minute. It has been a privilege to see the women on this team support each other and push each other to stronger and stronger performances all season. To win the conference championship with a perfect score is not something we set out to do, but is a rewarding way to have this group finish today."
Notes:
- the Defenders 1-5 split: 30 seconds / 1-7 split: 1:03
- Dordt has won five of its six meets this season
- the Defenders have not lost to an NAIA team
- this was the seventh consecutive GPAC title won by the Defenders, surpassing both Midland (1979-1984) and Nebraska Wesleyan (2006-2011) for consecutive outright titles won (NWU shared the title with Concordia in 2005)
- Dordt has won 13 total GPAC titles, surpassing Nebraska Wesleyan for most all-time
- the 13 GPAC titles won have come in the last 15 years (all since 2012)
- this was the 10th GPAC title won by the Defenders under Head Coach Nate Wolf (since 2015)
- Koole is the eighth different Dordt runner to win the GPAC Individual title
- Jen Kempers - 2008
- Michelle Steiger - 2010
- Annechiena Knevelbaard - 2018
- Olivia Couch - 2019
- Taylor (Anema) Droog - 2020
- Jessica Kampman - 2022 and 2023
- Corinne Braun - 2024-25
- Joy Koole - 2026
- a Defenders runner has won the conference title in each of the last five years
- Koole has won three meets this season and has finished in the top 10 in all four meets she competed in
- Liston and VanderGriend have three top 10's this season
- Liston also finished third at last year's GPAC Championship
- Crow has two top 10's this season, four top 25's
- this was Thong's second top 10 finish this season
- Burtis and Young have one top 10 finish this season
- Webb's 12th place finish matches her season-best
- Smith recorded her second top 25 finish
- Zwart has four top 25 finishes this season
