September 13, 2025

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – The Dakota State University Trojan women's cross-country team earned a runner-up finish at the Sunflower Open Saturday morning at Defender Cross Country Course.  The cross-country team is hosted by Dordt (Iowa).

The host team Defenders, who are ranked No. 9 in the NAIA Women's Cross Country Top 25 Preseason Poll, captured the team title with 16 points after averaging 18 minutes, 54 seconds.  Dordt registered a total time of 1 hour, 34 minutes, and 34 seconds as a team (top five runners on the team).

Dakota State, who received votes recognition to the national preseason poll, finished second with 50 points.  The Trojans finished with an average time of 19 minutes, 46 seconds and finished 1:38:50 as a team.

College of Saint Mary (Neb.) was third with 72 points, followed by Northwestern (Iowa) fourth with 120 points, and Trinity Bible (N.D.) fifth with 153 points.

There was a total of 73 runners in the 5K racecourse.

Trojan Runners Highlights

• Brooke Beaucaire (Sr.) – 5^th place, 19 minutes, 7.27 seconds
• Paige Willnerd (Fr.) – 12^th place, 19 minutes, 32.79 seconds
• Lindsey Roth (Sr.) – 16^th place, 20 minutes, .67 seconds
• Madelyn Sylva (Sr.) – 17^th place, 20 minutes, 4.56 seconds
• Valerija Curikova (Jr.) – 18^th place, 20 minutes, 5.30 seconds
• Kierra Miller (Jr.) – 40^th place, 21 minutes, 29.12 seconds
• Anna Schneider (So.) – 45^th place, 21 minutes, 41.4 seconds

Up Next
Dakota State is off until Saturday, Oct. 4, as they run in the Briar Cliff (Iowa) Open.  The cross-country meet takes place at Human Nature and Preserve in North Sioux City, Iowa, starting at 10 a.m.