From Washington University Athletics

Washington University in St. Louis ran to a narrow one-point victory for the 2018 NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country National Championship.

WashU won its second national title in women's cross country, previously doing so in 2011 also under the watchful eye of head coach Jeff Stiles. The No. 2-ranked Bears narrowly edged the No. 1-ranked and back-to-back defending national champion (2016 & 2017) Johns Hopkins University. WashU totaled 98 points compared to Johns Hopkins 99, led by junior Paige Lawler's individual national title.

Lawler is the first cross country individual national champion in WashU school history. Overall, her individual title is 30^th in school history, joining a number of track & field, swimming & diving and tennis Bears. She crossed the finish line in 20:55.0, more than three seconds ahead of the runner-up, Claire Lamb from Otterbein.

Joining Lawler with All-America finishes were graduate student Aly Wayne (seventh – 21:12.6), junior Sophie Watterson (13^th – 21:31.2) and senior Lisa Gorham (29^th – 21:49.6). Posting the Bears fifth time was senior Molly Shepherd placing 79^th with a time of 22:24.3. Every second was crucial in the Bears 6K times as multiple finishes were less than a full second ahead of the next runner.

All of WashU's runners similarly improved their standing as the distance grew. Sophomore Megan Girmscheid placed 112^th (22:38.3) and freshman Gabby McGinn placed 151^st (22:54.7) out of 279 competitors.

Lawler ran with the top pack for the majority of the race, posting top-10 times at each marker before pulling away in the final kilometer. She shot past Kaitlyn Mooney of the Coast Guard who had led the race from the previous three markers and outkicked Lamb on the final straightaway.

Wayne was 18^th at the first distance marker, before pushing to 13^th, ninth and seventh overall. She earned her second All-American finish in her career and posted her top finish at nationals, previously earning AA honors in 2016 while placing eighth.

Watterson earned All-American honors for the first time in her career after placing 41^st in 2017. She climbed from 43^rd at the first marker to 13^th and in the process nearly matched her personal-best 6K time (21:29.5 at the Midwest Regionals in 2017).

Gorham shattered her previous career-best time, dropping nearly half a minute, while earning her first All-American honor. She rose the leaderboard from 85^th (2320), 72^nd(3K) and 44^th (5K) to claim a top-35 finish for AA honors.

Shepherd nearly halved her first placement at the 2320m marker, moving from 151^st to 79^th overall. She scored 58 points for the Bears and placed 0.4 seconds ahead of the next runner. Shepherd who did not run at regionals, finished her career with a personal-best time to help the Bears claim the 23^rd National Title in WashU history.