WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Midwestern State placed four runners in the top nine to win the 2010 MSU Cross Country Stampede by a single point Thursday night at the Memorial Athletic Complex.

"It's always good to win a meet," MSU coach Koby Styles said after the 4K event. "We beat two solid teams as DBU was a national qualifier last season and UTA a great in the Southland."

The Mustangs packed junior Brissia Montalvo (3rd/14:51), senior Sydnee Cole (6th/15:03), freshman Ashley Flores (7th/15:03) and freshman Janel Campbell (9th/15:12) into the top 10, while sophomore Heather Owens closed out the countable scores by finishing 15th with a time of 15:44.

"Brissia had a nice meet and Heather Owens showed what a little bit of experience can bring," Styles said. "We still have a long way to go. We were getting passed in the last 100 meters, so we really tightened up a bit."

MSU still managed to finish with a total of 40 points to edge out Dallas Baptist (41 points) and Texas-Arlington (50 points), while Eastern New Mexico (94), East Central (105), Texas Wesleyan (146), Clarendon College (172) and Rogers State (172) rounded out the meet.

"We're ranked eighth in the region, so there are people out there that think there are seven teams better than us in the region," Styles said. "We really need to stay focused and keep working hard."

Sophomore Melody Caldwell finished 19th with a time of 16:01 and Cara Mack was 22nd with a 16:13 to round out the MSU competitors, while Lindsey Pate (32nd/16:44) and Bailey Dulaney (38th/17:16) ran unattached.

UTA's Emily Koenig was the top individual with a time of 14:31.