With Calista Stefaniak leading the way, the Cyclones are building confidence and growing stronger with every race. The women's cross country team took fourth place at the Purdue Northwest University XC Classic on Sept. 7.
Stefaniak (9th, 20:51) recorded the third fastest 5K in a Cyclone season opener, finishing in the top 10. She was followed by Madison Krisch (28th, 23:31), Victoria Granz (29th, 23:25), Carmen Villarreal (36th, 24:08), Lupe Diaz (45th, 25:34), Rachel Brenner (50th, 27:26) and Natalie Moreno (55th, 28:29).
"The women ran well. We knew that we had a couple of the top NAIA teams in the nation in our race, and Purdue Northwest is an NCAA DII school, so finishing behind them isn't bad at all," said head Coach Dimitri Dimizas. "All of our women started out aggressively, which was nice to see. We are still working on the middle part of the race, where everyone seems to fall apart, but we'll get there. It was great to have Calista finish in the top 10. Her confidence is rising, and our pack behind her is getting stronger, which is what we'll need to succeed in the postseason."