BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Bellevue University head cross country coach Craig Christians announced the signing of Lorelei Hayden (Omaha, Neb./Millard South HS) to a letter of intent. Hayden will continue her academic and athletic careers at BU beginning in the fall of 2020.
Hayden is a four-time Nebraska State Cross Country Meet qualifier. As a freshman, she ran to a 12th place finish with a time of 19:37. She capped her freshman campaign with a 19:07 personal best for 5K at the NXN Heartland Regional in Sioux Falls, S.D.
After a 29th place State Meet finish as a sophomore, Hayden returned to the medal stand as a junior with a seventh place finish in 19:31. She had four top 10 finishes at Class A District Meets, capped by a third place finish as a junior and turned in her best Metro Conference showing as a freshman, finishing fourth. She has run under 20-minute 5K's on nine occasions.
In high school, Hayden earned four varsity letters in track. She qualified for the State Track Meet in her best event, the 3200M, as a sophomore and ran times of under 12:00 on four occasions. She has a mile best time of 5:40. Additionally, she was part of Millard South's 4x800 meter relay squad, running a best 800M split of 2:28.
Hayden comes to BU having already earned an Associate's Degree while at Millard South. She was a frequent member of the Honor Roll and earned two Academic Letter Silver Medals.
Coach Christians on Hayden:
"I'm thrilled to add Lorelei to our group. She brings some championship level experience and should have an immediate impact on the success of our team. She also brings outstanding academic achievement and is going to be a great fit with the rest of the women."
Hayden joins earlier signee Taylor Caba (Plattsmouth, Neb./Plattsmouth HS) in the Bruins' 2020 recruiting class.
In their second season of competition during the 2019-20 academic year, BU earned a fifth place finish at the NSAA Cross Country Championships and placed sixth at the NSAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Additionally, Lorena Ramirez became the women's program first-ever NAIA National Championship qualifier in cross country.
