No. 1 Men’s Cross Country finishes third at Firetower Project Run

BOONE, N.C. (September 1, 2023) – The No. 1 Milligan University men's cross country team began its season at the Firetower Project Run at Appalachian State on Friday evening.

The Buffs placed third behind NCAA Division I Florida State and Appalachian State. Milligan had three of the top 15 finishers and totaled 84 points to finish ahead of Alabama Huntsville and Mercer.

"Top to bottom, this was easily our best showing at App State to open up a season," said head coach Chris Layne. "I definitely think we still have the potential to look a lot different come November."

Milligan's returning All-American trio of Aaron Jones, Will Stockley and Bryn Woodall paced the Buffs in the opener.

Jones placed 10th in 24:36.83, Stockley was 13th in 24:50.49 and Woodall crossed 15th in 25:00.45.

Zimri Kuhn ran No. 4 for the Buffs, finishing 21st in 25:22.84. Freshman Bryson Lewis completed the scoring five in 33rd-place (26:01.99). Sylas Chambers was 42nd in 26:19.64.

"I feel like our returnees are picking up where they left off from track and that showed today," said Layne. "Then we had a number of newcomers step up and put themselves in the mix as well."

The Buffs return to action on Sept. 15 at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational.