No. 1 Milligan Men’s XC Boasts Multiple Personal Bests at ECU Pirate Invitational

Zimri Kuhn’s personal-best performance at the Pirate Invitational made him the second finisher for the squad in their sixth-place team finish on Friday

October 4, 2024

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Milligan Univeristy men's cross country squad hit the course on Friday morning at the Pirate Invitational, hosted by East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. In the end, Milligan finished seventh out of a field of 21, with 19 of them being NCAA Division I opponents, and received a top-five finish from their standout senior.

Finishing in seventh place in the 8k race was Bryn Woodall, who posted a strong 24:03.3 time, which is his best time so far this season by just under a second over his 24:04.0 time at the Firetower Project Run.

Zimri Kuhn was phenomenal, as well, placing 29th overall with a time of 24:41.6. He shattered his previous personal-best time of 24:53.6 at last season's Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Championships while running on a huge stage.

Winston Telford (52nd) and Bryson Lewis (57th) finished just two seconds off each other's pace. Telford posted a 25:04.1, while Lewis provided a 25:06.4 clip. Telford missed his personal-best time by just under eight seconds and was one second off his season-best mark. For Lewis, it was his top result of the season, so far, and just five seconds shy of his personal-best time.

Douglas Cornfield placed 62nd with a 25:12.1, which landed him just a few strides shy of his best time in his freshman year. Sam Kyker finished 68th and posted a 25:16.7 to destroy his previous personal-best time of 25:48.7 which was set this season at the Firetower Project Run.

The final runner that counted toward the team score was Joseph Abbott, who finished 79th with a 25:24.8 clip. Dillon Craig, who finished 90th with a time of 25:46.2 put forth a record-setting day, as it was the first time that he had ever run a sub-26 minute 8k in his collegiate career.

Following the top seven, Alex Brittain (101st), Mitchell McCown (121st), Ashton Sheesley (137th), Daniel Martin (140th), Joshua Starr (145th), Blake Hipkiss (150th), Ethan Bennett (153rd) and Josh Hale (158th) rounded out the list of remaining Milligan finishers.

"Both squads are at the end of a pretty heavy training window," said head coach Chris Layne, "so taking that into consideration, I feel like we got a lot out of today. We saw a bunch of PB's on the men's side. We are excited to get them freshened up so we can turn into the championship window ready to go."

What lies ahead in the near future for the Buffaloes is the NAIA Appalachian Challenge, which will be held at Sequoyah Park in Knoxville, Tenn. on Oct. 26, three weeks from now.