SIOUX CENTER, Iowa -- After a six-month layoff since its last competition, the Bellevue University women's cross country opened the 2020 season with a seventh-place finish in the Dordt University Sunflower Opener Saturday morning. Ten NAIA schools and a number of unattached NCAA runners who had had their seasons canceled made up the field.
The competition was held on the campus of Dordt University in an area called the "Dordt Prairie" and featured even rolling terrain and numerous turns. The heat was a factor as temps rose into the 80s by the conclusion of the meet.
In the women's 5K race, returning national qualifier Lorena Ramirez and freshman Lorelei Hayden led the Bruins to a 7th place finish among nine full-scoring teams. Ramirez ran to 33rd place and Hayden crossed the line in 43rd running 20:08.7 and 20:32.3, respectively in the field of 128 runners. Taylor Caba saw her first cross country action ever (she was a high school volleyball player) and recorded a fine 22:00.3 in her debut, good for 82nd place. The scoring for the Bruins was rounded out by twins Dayana and Diana Montano-Salama who were 126th and 128th.
The host school, Dordt, had five of the top 10 runners, to easily capture the team title with 17 team points. The Defenders' Taylor Anema was the individual champion, finishing at 18:37.51.
"I thought it was a good opener," said head coach Craig Christians. "It's tough to go so long without racing and we haven't begun to run workouts at race pace so I was happy with the way everyone performed. I was particularly pleased with the performance of our freshmen and newcomers and I'm very encouraged about the rest of the season."
The Bruins will travel to Madison, S.D. next Saturday, Sept. 12, where they will compete in the Herb Blakely Invitational hosted by Dakota State University.
