LITCHFIELD, Ill. - Webster University put five runners in the Top 12 here Saturday morning en route to taking home its second consecutive St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Championship at the 2018 SLIAC Championships held at Litchfield Country Club.
 
At Saturday's championship meet, the Gorloks top four runners finished third, fourth sixth and ninth to help Webster score a total of 29 points and win the SLIAC title by 30 points over runner-up Greenville, who scored 59 points. The 30-point margin of victory for Webster is the largest at the SLIAC Championship since the 2008 season, while Webster 29 points is the lowest score since Greenville scored 20 points to bring home the 2009 title.

With its repeat championship, Webster becomes the first women's cross country team to repeat as league champion since Greenville won six straight SLIAC titles from 2004-09. 

"I thought we ran a really strong race. They trained really hard the whole year from the summer up to now and that really paid off today," Webster head coach Dan Graber said. "We ran really hard today, but today's effort was a cumulative effect of all the miles they put in since beginning in the summer and also their desire to be excellent."

Webster's depth was very evident on Saturday as they had seven runners finish in the Top 17, including four placing in the Top 9, including junior Meredith Sowers (Rolla, Mo./Rolla) being the Gorloks top finisher as she crossed the finish line in third place after running a personal best 6K time of 23:39.85 on her 22nd birthday. It marked the second consecutive season that Sowers finished in the Top 7 as the SLIAC Championships as she placed seventh last season. With her third place finish, Sowers, who was named to the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team for the second straight year, earned repeat First-Team All-SLIAC honors. 

"It feels amazing. Coach (Graber) told me to aim for Top 8, so getting third place is like a dream," Sowers said following the race. "It means the world to this program to win back-to-back titles. We got the win last year as we were the underdogs, so this year, we just wanted to defend it and show it wasn't just a one-time thing."

Sowers' time of 23:39.45 bettered her old 6K time of 23:42.1 set at last year's SLIAC Championships and was also a season-best 6K time run by a Gorlok runner this season. 

The top seven finishers in the SLIAC Championships earn First-Team All-SLIAC honors, while the next seven finishers (8-14) are named Second-Team All-SLIAC honorees.

Along with Sowers, sophomore Minnell Fundora (Miami, Fla./John A. Ferguson) placed fourth overall as she recorded a career-best 6K time of 23:40.62 to also earn First-Team All-SLIAC honors. Fundora's time bettered her old 6K time of 25:11.6  set at last year's SLIAC Championships where she finished 17th overall. 

"I was pretty surprised with what I ended up being capable of today. This means the world to be and I am so happy and couldn't be more elated," Fundora said about her season-best performance Saturday.

Webster's third Top 7 finisher on Saturday was sophomore Kalleigh Linthicum (Lake St. Louis, Mo./Timberland) as she recorded a 6K time of 23:53.30 to finish in sixth place overall. Linthicum, who was Webster's top finish in four of its five regular season meets, earns First-Team All-SLIAC honors with her sixth place finish. Last season, she was 12th at the conference meet to earn Second-Team honors. 

Entering Saturday's SLIAC Championships, Fundora and Sowers had run in a total of three meets during the fall season as Sowers ran at both the Fast Cats Classic hosted by Kentucky Wesleyan and the Cowbell Classic hosted by Principia College, while Fundora had run at just the Cowbell Classic prior to their performances on Saturday. 

Along with Webster and Greenville, Spalding finished third as a team as they scored 93 points, while Principia was fourth with 98 points. Fontbonne finished fifth with 121 points and Iowa Wesleyan placed sixth with 143 points. 

While Webster became the first repeat team champion since 2009, Westminster's Jessica Kuykendall took home first place honors individually for the third consecutive season to become the first runner in league history to win three individual conference titles. Kuykendall, who hadn't raced in nearly a month, recorded a time of 23:01.85 to place first overall and earn SLIAC Runner of the Year honors for the third straight year. 

Spalding's Kelsey Phillips posted a 6K time of 23:31.05 to finish in second place, while Principia's Emme Schaefer ran a time of 23:49.63 to finish in fifth place overall and earn SLIAC Newcomer of the Year honors. The final First-Team All-SLIAC performer was Iowa Wesleyan's Sierra Howardson, who ran the 6K course in a time of 23:55.86 to finish in seventh place. 

In addition to Kuykendall and Schaefer, the league's other women's award winners on Saturday were Graber taking home Coach of the Year honors for the second straight season, while Webster was named the SLIAC's Sportsmanship Award winner.

Webster's next two finishers were sophomore Lauren Coleman (St. Peters, Mo./Francis Howell Central) and freshman Taylor Dunning (Chester, Ill./Chester) as they each earned Second-Team All-SLIAC honors after finishing ninth and 12th respectively. Coleman recorded a 6K time of 24:27.30.

Junior Savannah Brewer (Flagstaff, Ariz./Coconino) finished just outside the Top 14 as she ran a career-best 6K time of 25:12.20 to finish 15th overall. Brewer's time bettered her old mark of 25:22.0 at last year's SLIAC Championship.

Freshman Lindsay Poitras (Imperial, Mo./Fox) was Webster's No. 7 runner on Saturday as she ran a career-best 6K time of 25:35.79 to place 17th overall. 

The next three Webster finishers placed 21st, 22nd and 23rd overall as junior Jessica Phibbs (Vancouver, Wash./Mountain View) posted a 6K time of 26:09.09 to finish 21st, while freshman Megan Bartz (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) ran a career-best 6K time of 26:20.96 to finish 22nd and freshman Sady Bayne (Sierra Vista, Ariz./Buena) posted a 6K time of 26:32.90 to finish in 23rd place. 

Junior Megan Schramm (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle) finished 26th overall with a time of 26:52.62 and fellow classmate Emma Teson (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood) was 27th overall with a 6K time of 26:52.92.

Webster will now take two weeks off before returning to action on Nov. 10 as the Gorloks will compete in the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championships, which will be held at Whitetail Golf Club in Colfax, Wis.