NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. -- The Bruins women's cross country team put together their best showing of the season with a performance that saw their average time reduced to 21:21 per runner, an improvement of over 20 seconds from the Greeno/Dirksen Invite two weeks ago. The Bruins finished eighth of eleven scoring teams with NCAA Division I South Dakota winning easily with a low score of 25.
Despite a foot injury suffered early in the race, Madison Nelson led the Bruin women again as she finished 48th in the 130 runner field. Her time was 20:09 for the five-kilometer course. The next four Bruins came across the finish in the span of 36 seconds in a demonstration of fine team running. Caroline Feig led the charge in 79th place with a 21:26.2 clocking, a season's best. Right behind her was Alisiara Hobbs, continuing a comeback from a lengthy absence due to injury, and she turned in a 21:31 showing, an improvement of a minute and a half from her best run of the season. Also returning to the lineup for the Bruins after a lengthy absence was Lorelei Hayden with an 82nd place finish running 21:36.3. Rounding out the Bruin scorers and runners was Sarah Felten who finished 91st in 22:02.4, just shy of her season best.
Head Coach Craig Christians: "I thought the women ran an outstanding race today. I was particularly impressed with Ali and Lorelei who have had lengthy struggles with injuries but seem to be turning the corner. I can totally relate to struggling with a long-term injury and to see them both out there and racing well today really made me happy. I know they were happy, too. Caroline had been very steady for us and Sarah is sticking with the group so I like where the women as a whole are headed. Madison stepped on a rock early in the race and I hope it is nothing that a few days of rest won't take care of because she will be one of the top runners in the conference come November."
The Bruins will travel to Dordt next Saturday where they will face the nationally-ranked Defenders and a high-quality field in the Holiday Inn Express Classic on the Dordt campus in Sioux Center, Iowa.
