Talented crop of freshmen debut for Dutch women’s cross country team
PELLA— A quintet of first-year runners scored for the Central College women’s cross country team in a second-place finish at the Dutch Invitational Friday night.
The Dutch scored 32 points, finishing five behind Grinnell College’s 27 points. The Pioneers won the team title and their top runner, Mikayla Fujiwara, won the individual crown in 19 minutes, 52.1 seconds on the 5,000-meter course.
“The women went out really well hard and that was the best thing for me to see,” coach Joe Dunham said. “This group is aggressive and they want to win.”
Miranda Kruiswyk (sophomore, Dunlap, Ill.) clocked in at 20:33.7, taking second place overall and pacing the Dutch. Kruiswyk won the meet last year, her first collegiate competiton.
“Miranda is a little behind where she was last year,” Dunham said. “She’s very focused and I think she’ll be fine.”
After spending the spring semester studying abroad, Lauren Moll (senior, Faribault, Minn.) was stellar in her return to a Central uniform, placing third in 20:42.5.
Though she is a sophomore academically, Mari Stein (freshman, Okoboji) competed for the first time in a Central uniform after not competing in 2018. She was fourth in 20:54.6.
Four true freshman runners completed the Dutch lineup: Hailey Hill (Las Vegas, Nev., West Career & Technical Academy) was 11th (21:28.5), Lauren Coon (Oskaloosa) was 12th (21:58.1), Lauren Miller (Dubuque) was 13th (21:58.7) and Brenna Thomson (Baxter) was 14th (22:13.2).
“It was exciting for me to see how hungry they were,” Dunham said. “We’re just getting into our training so they’re pretty tired right now.”
Racing in consecutive weeks for the only time this season, the Dutch will compete at the Les Duke Invitational, hosted by Grinnell College, next Saturday at 10 a.m.
