The Bulldogs will toe the starting line for the first time in the 2024 season Friday as the Butler women are part of the field at the Winrow Valparaiso Open.
 
The Butler women are one of nine teams who will navigate the 5K course at Sunset Hill Farm County Park in Valparaiso. 
 
Coach Matt Roe's squad will include eight runners. Lexi Affolter, Mckenna Mazeski, Ashlyn Minton and Renate Toldo bring previous experience in a Bulldog uniform. Freshmen Kylie Cline, Hannah Moore and Alejandra Sierazy, as well as graduate student Caitlin Rose, will make their respective Butler debuts.
 
Weather has moved the women's race up to 10 a.m. (Central, 11 a.m. Eastern) Friday morning. A men's 6K will follow at 10:45 a.m. Central, but the Butler men are not part of the field.
 
The Butler women will compete against host Valpo, Notre Dame, Purdue, Ball State, UIC, Western Michigan, IU Indianapolis, and Goshen. Notre Dame won the event in 2023.
 
This will mark the 35th running of the Valpo home meet. Prior to the 2021 meet, the event was renamed the Winrow Open, in honor of former Valpo head cross country coach Ed Winrow, who passed away in March 2020.