Panthers Take Team Title, Williams Goes Back to Back
Despite a warmer-than-usual end-of-October day, there were plenty of stand-out performances on Saturday at the 2022 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Championship. Kyanne Williams headlined the runners, winning her second straight individual title for Webster University. Williams burst off the starting line and did not look back, finishing the 6K course in a time of 23:23, one second faster than her winning time last year. More impressive was the face she bettered the closest runner by 1:04, the fourth largest margin of victory in conference championship history. The record is held by Stephanie Hood of Principia College at the 2002 championship of 1:25.
Although Williams captured the individual title it was the Greenville University Panthers that came away with the team title, totaling 24 points; tied for the lowest score since 2019. The championship is the program's 18th title and second in the last three years. The Panthers placed their five scoring runners in the top seven of the finishers. Gretchen Carie led the way, finishing 2nd with a time of 24:27, her fastest time this season. Once Brook Schutt crossed the finish line in 4th spectators saw a run of four Greenville runners in a row. Following Schutt were Olivia Mansfield, Norah Swinigan, and Sedina Logan.
Eureka College had a program record-setting performance on Saturday, finishing 2nd on the team standings with 68 points. Their finish is the highest in program history while their points total was easily a program best, topping last year's mark of 131 points. The Red Devils had five runners place in the top 20 including a pair taking top ten honors. Karissa Heffernan led the way with a 3rd-place finish, becoming the highest Red Devil finisher in program history. She had a season-best time of 25:08. Rachel Fisher finished 10th overall with a time of 27:19.
Principia College placed 3rd with 71 points. The Principia runners were able to hold strong as a group, with all six runners that competed finishing within 12 spots of each other. Geena Richards was the top finisher with a time of 27:39, placing 11th.
Webster University was 4th with 80 points. With Williams capturing her second consecutive individual title the Gorlok program can boast the last four champions. She also joins a list of eight other runners in conference history as a repeat champion. Megan Bartz joined Williams as an All-Conference runner, finishing 8th with a time of 26:37.
Finishing 5th was Blackburn College with 128 points. Olivia Leemon was the top finisher for the Beavers, coming in 17th place with a time of 30:27.
Also competing was Spalding University although with just one runner they did not qualify for team scoring. Lexie Barthmaier finished 16th with a time of 28:29.
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