Joy Koole and
Addy Liston finished 1-2 as individuals in leading the third-ranked Dordt University women's cross country team to the team championship at the Defenders first of three home meets, the Sunflower Open, presented by Rankin / Veenstra Wealth Management.
The Defenders totaled 20 points and had all seven counters place among the top 10 individuals. College of Saint Mary finished second in the team standings with 59 points, followed by Northwestern (63), Dakota State (119) and Waldorf (126).
Koole, a returning All-American for the Defenders, moved into second place at the halfway point took over the lead during the final 2K to earn her second career win and second consecutive victory at the Sunflower Open. Liston was among the lead group for the entire race and matched her career best finish (2nd). Both Defenders finished with a huge personal best time: Koole crossed the tape in 18:04, 28 seconds faster than her previous best, while Liston's time was 18:06, 33 seconds faster than her previous best.
Rounding out the top five were Emily DeGroot (Northwestern), the reigning GPAC Runner of the Week, who played third with a 5K time of 18:21. Two Defenders, Bailey Vander Griend and
Hannah Thong, finished fourth and fifth and came across the line less than a second apart at 18;33. This was the first collegiate race for Vande Griend.
Kara Muller (College of Saint Mary) and Kayden Spencer (Northwestern) finished sixth and seventh, respectively, with times of 18:52 and 18:54. The next 12 runners to cross the finish line were all wearing Defender gold as Dordt held the 8th - 19th places in the final tally. Leading the way was another Defender freshman,
Natalie Smith, who finished eighth (19:05), followed by
Macy Marshall, who ran a personal best time and recorded her best finish (19:09 , 9th place). Sophomore
Elyse Zwart completes the top 10 finishers and ran a personal-best time of 19:11.
"The women opened up with a strong, collective performance today. We talked a lot about moving together and racing as a pack. They did that well. The depth of the team was apparent with the top 13 women within 90 seconds of each other at the finish. It was a beautiful day to race and a great way to start the season" commented Dordt University Head Coach Nate Wolf.
By the Numbers:
- the Defenders total time (top five) was 1:32.23, over two seconds faster than the 2025 race
- Dordt's 1-5 split was 61 seconds
- 25 Defenders ran 5K personal-bests:
- Career Best Finish (5):
- 95 total runners finished today's race
- Dordt totaled 38 finishers
Defender Notes:
