LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Missouri State women's cross country team placed five runners in the top-15 to secure the team title here Saturday morning at the Little Rock Open.

The Bears finished atop the leaderboard with 29 points, beating out Central Arkansas (40) and host Little Rock (83) among the nine-team field.  Today's winning result marks the second straight season MSU has earned a meet victory after taking top prize at the Southern Stampede in 2019.

"Today was a big success and the perfect way to end the fall racing season," said head coach Jordan Fife.  "We knew what we were capable of and had a game plan coming into the race.  This group deserves all the credit, they went out, executed, and raced tough to earn the win."

Adyson Delaney led the charge for the Bears in the 5k race, finishing as the top scorer of the meet and first among the 69 collegiate runners.  The junior distance runner earned the highest finish of her three-year career by running a blistering 18:32.8 pace.

Delaney had plenty of company following closely behind her that were representing the Bears.  Grace Breiten placed fourth with her time of 18:38.1 and Edna Dar (18:42.9) crossed the finish line a few seconds later to put MSU in three of the top-5 scoring spots.

Freshman Sierra Williams added a crucial seven points with her eighth-place finish by clocking an 18:53.9 time in her second collegiate race.  Shelby Palmer closed out the scoring for the Bears, placing 14th on her 5K time of 19:27.9.

"They raced as a team and used each other well throughout the course," added Fife.  "Adyson had a great last 2-3 minutes of racing to finish as the top collegiate of the meet."

The victory today in Little Rock wraps up the fall campaign for a Missouri State team that left its mark on a shortened season.  Along with the Little Rock Open, the Bears competed at the highly-competitive Cowboy Jamboree on Oct. 3 and finished seventh in the 6K race.

For more information on the Missouri State cross country team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or visit the team Twitter (@MSUBearsTrackXC) and Facebook.

Missouri State Individual Finishers
2. Adyson Delaney (18:32.8)
4. Grace Breiten (18:38.1)
6. Edna Dar (18:42.9)
8. Sierra Williams (18:53.9)
14. Shelby Palmer (19:27.9)
17. Grace Murphy (19:43.0)
22. Lillie Kaempfe (20:06.6)
29. Riley Lourens (20:35.1)
36. Ashley Rolewicz (21:09.9)
38. Natalie Clayton (21:15.0)
 
Team Scores
1. Missouri State (29)
2. Central Arkansas (40)
3. Little Rock (83)
4. Arkansas State (106)
5. Louisiana (134)
6. ULM (156)
7. Jacksonville College (220)
8. Delta State (225)
9. Philander Smith (261)