COLUMBIA -- Missing its No. 1 runner for the second time in as many meets, William Woods University blew past the field to claim the women's cross country title in the 2023 Larry Young Invitational.
Mekayla Gibson shaved another six seconds off her best, finishing the 5,000-meter course in 18 minutes, 24.39 seconds.
WWU outscored NCAA Division II squad Missouri S&T 41-64 and posted a 1-5 spread nearly 90 seconds faster than the Miners.
Gibson kept pace throughout the course with Emma Puetz, finishing just 14 seconds behind the Miners' No. 1, with the pair putting nearly a minute between themselves and the rest of the pack.
Mary Grover finished second in the scoring ranks for WWU, part of a cluster of runners from S&T, Evangel and Huntington, scoring six points with her time of 19:42.00.
The final three scoring runners for the Owls finished within an 11-second window, taking 14th-16th overall.
Hailey Gerrard (20:16.81), Crystal Ruden (20:21.99) and Tara Lowe (20:27.04) scored 10, 11 and 12 points for WWU, respectively.
In addition to Gibson, three other PRs were set in the meet, with Gerard, Lowe and Myra Baker each recording new bests.
Lowe was the biggest improvement of the quartet, taking 31 seconds off her previous best time.
The Owls head back to Gans Creek in two weeks, with a 9:45 a.m. start in the Gans Creek Invitational hosted by Mizzou.
WWU meet results
2nd (2) Mekayla Gibson -- 18:24.39 (new PR, previous 18:32.77)
10th (6) Mary Grover -- 19:42.00
14th (10) Hailey Gerard -- 20:16.81 (new PR, previous 20:21.8)
15th (11) Crystal Ruden -- 20:21.99
17th (12) Tara Lowe -- 20:27.04 (new PR, previous 20:58.4)
31st (26) Sarah Kirby -- 21:38.36
37 (32) Myra Baker -- 22:23.96 (new PR, previous 22:33.7)
40th Kyah Weirich -- 22:30.78
46th Emma Clifford -- 23:03.72
Team scores
1 -- William Woods | 41 pts -- 2, 6, 11, 12, (26), (32)
Total time: 1:39:12.23/19:50.45 (spread 1-5 2:02.65) (spread 1-7 3:59.57)
2 -- Missouri S&T | 64 pts -- 1, 4, 14, 18, 27, (30), (39)
Total time: 1:40:51.42/20:10.29
3 -- Evangel | 68 pts -- 3, 5, 7, 15, 38, (51)
Total time: 1:42:40.80/20:32.16
4 -- Friends | 120 pts -- 9, 20, 21, 28, 42, (47)
Total time: 1:48:21.93/21:40.39
5 -- McPherson | 133 pts -- 8, 17, 29, 31, 48, (58)
Total time: 1:49:23.74/21:52.75
6 -- Columbia College | 133 pts -- 16, 23, 25, 34, 35, (43), (45)
Total time: 1:48:44.32/21:44.87
7 -- Lincoln | 165 pts -- 13, 22, 36, 41, 53, (54), (55)
Total time: 1:53:33.53/22:42.71
8 -- Central Methodist | 185 pts -- 19, 33, 40, 44, 49, (50), (56)
Total time: 1:55:59.59/23:11.92
9 -- Univ. of Health Sciences and Pharmacy | 266 pts -- 37, 46, 60, 61, 62
Total time: 2:22:27.05/28:29.41
10 -- Williams Baptist | 271 pts -- 24, 52, 63, 64, 68
Total time: 2:30:19.03/30:03.81
11 -- Webster | 314 pts -- 57, 59, 65, 66, 67
Total time: 2:43:50.03/32:46.01