WINNECONNE, Wis. - Webster University women's cross country had the team's highest finish in school history in an NCAA Regional meet here Saturday as the Gorloks placed 18th out of as the team placed 18th out of 35 teams the at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championships hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and held at Lake Breeze Golf Course.
 
The 18th place showing at Saturday's NCAA Midwest Regional bettered the old school best finish of 22nd at last year's Midwest Regional Championships held in Colfax. Wis. The Gorloks 18th place showing was accomplished without the services of senior Meredith Sowers (Rolla, Mo./Rolla), who was forced to miss her final collegiate cross country event due to a knee injury. Sowers, who earned repeat First-Team All-St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors this season, was Webster's No. 2 finisher at last year's NCAA Midwest Regionals.

With its 18th place finish, Webster, who has won three consecutive SLIAC championships, has now scored in team competition at the NCAA Regionals for the sixth consecutive season, all of which have come under current head coach Dan Graber, who three-peated as this year's SLIAC Coach of the Year. No other Gorlok coach has ever had more than three teams score at NCAA Regionals.

At Saturday's event, Webster finished 15 points behind 17th place finisher Lake Forest, who scored 492 points and was 43 points ahead of 19th place Edgewood College, who tallied 550 points. Washington University took home first place with 37 points as the Bears had three runners place in the Top 7 and the University of Chicago was second with 66 points and Wisconsin-La Crosse was third with 116 points.
 
Leading the way for the Gorloks was junior Kalleigh Linthicum (Lake St. Louis, Mo./Timberland) as she was the first finish for Gorlok to cross the finish line as she placed  54th overall with a 6K time of 23:45.5. Linthicum, who was Webster's top finisher in all five of its meets this season, ran the fifth fastest time in an NCAA Regional in school history and the time was the third fastest 6K time this season.
 
In addition to Linthicum, freshman Kaitlin Higgins (Fenton, Mo./Rockwood Summit), who was named this year's SLIAC Newcomer of the Year, finished 60th overall with a personal best 6K time of 23:50.2. Higgins' time was fourth fastest 6K time this season.   
 
With their Top 60 finishes, Linthicum and Higgins become the first Gorlok women's cross country runners to both finish inside the Top 60 of the same NCAA Regional Championship meet.
 
In addition to Webster's two Top 60 finishers, the third finisher on Saturday for the Gorloks was freshman Danielle Schultz (Swansea, Ill./Belleville East) placed 116th overall with a 6K time of 24:49.1, while  sophomore Taylor Dunning (Chester, Ill./Chester) was the fourth finisher placing 120th overall with a 6K time of 24:55.5.
 
Sophomore Cora Reed (Manchester, Mo./Parkway South) was the fifth runner to finish for the Gorloks as she ran a personal best 6K time of 25:49.9 to finish 157th overall, while senior Savannah Brewer (Flagstaff, Ariz./Coconino) was the sixth Gorlok to finish placing 163rd overall with a 6K time of 26:01.3 and the last scoring runner on Saturday was freshman Kyanne Williams (St. Louis, Mo./Affton), who placed 186th with a 6K time of 26:57.6.