JOPLIN, Mo. - Midwestern State didn't leave much of a gap of opportunity for the remaining field Saturday morning at the 5K Missouri Southern Stampede.

NCAA Division I power Tulsa dominated the race by posting a perfect score, but the Mustangs served notice to Division II community as five runners broke the 19-minute barrier with a 45-second between the first and fifth across the finish line to take second place in the field of 36.

"That's the kind of stuff we need to do every week to be where we want to be," MSU coach Koby Styles said. "We surprised a lot of people today, but now we're going to be the ones with the target on our backs. Our goal is to win conference, win regionals and do well at nationals. This is a great step toward that today."

Senior Sydnee Cole led the charge by breaking the school 5,000-meter with a time of 18:08.35 using a late surge to narrowly edge teammate Brissia Montalvo (18:08.88) as the duo finished 17th and 18th.

"If you ask them, they'll say they tied, but got there in different ways," Styles said. "We needed an aggressive start and Brissia provided that and Sydnee is a strong closer."

MSU's dynamic freshman duo once again nailed down the Mustangs' top four as Ashley Flores (18:20.05) and Janel Campbell (18:29.27) placed 22nd and 29th, respectively.

But it was another freshman that made all the difference Saturday as the difference between the Mustangs and host Missouri Southern was just a single point through each of the teams' first four finishers.

"The surprise of the day was Cara Mack," Styles said. "She's why we did so well today. She's either been sixth or seventh at practice, but she was huge today."

The Llano High product completed the course in 18:53.89 to finish 48th individually which was 25 places better than Lions' fifth runner allowing MSU to outpoint Missouri Southern 117-148.

"With this team being so deep we always seem to have someone ready to step up," Styles said. "This is the best a Midwestern team has ever ran to include the conference championships and the run to nationals, but we haven't just trained to do well here. We have a ways to go."

Sophomore Heather Owens placed 95th with a time of 19:34.44 and sophomore Melody Caldwell finished 132nd with a time of 20:09.20 while senior Bailey Dulaney ran 169th with a time of 20:48.50.

Other top South Central Region team finishers were Missouri Southern (3rd), Dallas Baptist (5th), Pittsburg State (6th), Southwest Baptist (7th), East Central (19th), Central Oklahoma (20th) and Southwestern Oklahoma (21st).

Midwestern State competes in the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree next Saturday in Stillwater.