Cedar Rapids, Iowa — Dordt will compete in the NAIA National Championship Cross Country Meet on Friday, April 9 at Seminole Valley in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The women’s race will start at 10:30 AM and the men’s race will get underway at 11:30 AM.
Dordt’s women’s lineup will include: Taylor Anema, Jessica Kampman, Eden Winslow, Anika Homan, Brenna Tolkamp, Margaret Myskowski and Mary Kate Postma.
The men’s lineup will feature: Davis Tebben, Eric Steiger, Jacob Vander Plaats, Nic Veldhorst, Franklin Reinders, Joe Anderson and Thaniel Schroeder.
The women’s race will feature 35 teams and another 98 individuals and this is the 41st Annual NAIA National Women’s Cross Country Championship. Four schools are making their 11th appearance at the event since 2010 and another two have made 10 appearances in the field. Dordt’s women are making their ninth since 2010.
The men’s race has 36 teams and 96 individuals competing on the 8,000 meter course. This the 65th Annual NAIA National Meet for men. Four teams have competed in 11 championships since 2010 in men’s action and one more has made 10 appearances. This is Dordt’s fourth turn in the field since 2010.
Last year the Dordt women finished 23rd in the field at Vancouver, Washington with 541 points. Olivia Couch ran an 18:55 to lead Dordt and finished 46th while Sarah Wensink ran 78th in 19:16. Jordan Bos, Eden Winslow and Sienna De Jong made up the rest of the Dordt scoring five with 115th, 222nd, 228th respectively.
The Dordt men finished 16th last season with Eric Steiger running 57th in 26:00 and Jacob Vander Plaats was 82nd in 26:16. Davis Tebben (103), Joe Anderson (137) and Nicolas Veldhorst (146) made up the rest of the Dordt scoring five and Trey Engen and Brooks De Waard completed the lineup.
The men recorded a 10th place finish at Seminole Valley in 2018 and the women finished 16th. The women’s best finish was in 2014 when they placed fifth one year after taking sixth.
Neither Dordt team has run a cross country meet since November 7 when the Defenders swept the GPAC titles. The women scored 27 points and were led by Taylor Anema’s title winning 18:50 and Eden Winslow was just a second behind to claim runner-up honors. Jordan De Groot, Jessica Kampman and Bethany Ten Haken all finished in the top-15. De Groot will not run in the NAIA Meet due to injury.
The men won their third straight title at Yankton while scoring 34 points. Davis Tebben ran runner-up in 26:09 while Franklin Reinders, Joe Anderson and Eric Steiger ran sixth, seventh and eighth.
