Cross Country: William Woods third on both sides in Columbia College meet

The William Woods men and women each had third-place team finishes Saturday at the Larry Young Invitational at Gans Creek Course, hosted by Columbia College.

The Owl runners competed against NAIA teams as well as NCAA Division II teams, with the men defeating every single NAIA team. Division II Lindenwood finished in second ahead of both William Woods men and women, but Division II Missouri S&T won the men's competition and No. 24 Columbia won on the women's side.

For the women, Mekayla Gibson was the top William Woods finisher, coming in fifth with a 19:28.70. Two more Owl women were in the top 10 as Ellie Dimond was in 8th at 19:35.13, and Alicia Engelbrecht was in 10th at 19:43.58.

On the men's side, Landon Dunlap had the best Owls finish in 10th at 26:56.53. Two more William Woods men cracked the top 20 as Jackson Conner was right behind Dunlap in 11th at 27:00.92, and Hunter Carpenter was in 18th at 27:19.59. South Callaway alumnus Dustin Russell finished in 108th at 31:36.19.

William Woods will be back running Oct. 1 at the Gans Creek Invitational hosted by University of Missouri.