Buffs looking to have another impactful year in 2019

MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Sept. 4, 2019) – With a 2018 postseason finish of No. 12 and a 2019 preseason ranking of No. 17, Milligan College's cross-country team looks to have another big year this fall.

The Buffaloes have won the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship 14 of the last 16 years and have qualified as a team for the NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship every season since 2003. The program is decorated with 11 All-Americans, including Milligan alumnae Jacquelyn Crow (2019) who led the Buffs to a 12th-place finish last season.

On the schedule

Milligan opens at Tusculum University for the second year in a row and will send a select squad to compete at the Zaxby's Open. Action gets under way at 6 p.m. at Holston Home Cross Country Course with the women's race first and the men's race to follow.

The Buffs will then have three more meets on the schedule prior to the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships (Friday, Nov. 8) and NAIA Cross Country National Championships (Friday, Nov. 22).

Buffs running at home in 2019

Among the regular season races, the Buffs host the Dual at Buffalo Creek, a dual meet against Tennessee Wesleyan University Friday, Sept. 13. The Buffaloes will race the Bulldogs along Buffalo Creek and near the M Training Loop and Milligan softball, baseball and soccer fields.

"I know our crew are really excited to compete on campus," Head Coach Chris Layne said. "I'm not sure what happened before I came to Milligan, but in my 20 years this will be the first-ever cross-country event held at Milligan. Tennessee Wesleyan will bring two really good teams. I think they have a women's team worthy of national recognition, and their men are competitive at the top of the AAC year in and year out."

This year's roster

Although without their top runner from last season, the Buffs are loaded with returners. This includes Erica Stone, a multitime All-American in track & field; Katlyn Haas and Amy Ferguson, both multitime national championship qualifiers in track & field; and Gabrielle Mardis, a track & field national qualifier and winner of last season's Zaxby's Open. Mardis, along with Avery DeWolf, Bekah Owen and Hannah Bell, finished in Milligan's top five multiple times. Behind Crow, these four rounded out Milligan's top five at the AAC Championship.

"We lost Jacquelyn Crow, but of course Haas and Ferguson, two of our top women, didn't compete at cross nationals, so they are back in the fold with others like DeWolf, Mardis, Owen, Kelsey Mowrey and Bell, who all competed at nationals last year," Layne said. 

The roster will be heavy with last year's talent, although Layne said this year's recruiting class was another good one. "I expect Caitlin Dominy to impact our top seven based on how she looks early on," he said. "Then I see the likes of Ali Burns and Maci Cloninger gaining a lot from working with this top group of girls. They will also be able to help us long term if they stay on track."

A little on last year

Milligan finished runner-up or better in three events of last season, including runner-up at the AAC Championships in November. Mardis led the Buffs with a victory in the opening meet, at Tusculum University, before Crow stepped in as the Buffs' No. 1 for the remainder of the schedule. Milligan returns everyone but Crow, who graduated, from last season.

Last year finished with the Buffs earning runner-up at the AAC Championship before nabbing 12th at the national championships. Crow, Mardis, Owen, DeWolf, Bell, Stone, Mowrey and Ferguson all landed in the top 22 at the AAC meet; Crow, Stone and Mardis were in the top 100 at the national meet, including Crow who took ninth to land All-American status.

Rounding it all up

Layne noted the Buffs, as the preseason polls suggest, should be strong on both sides. The men enter the season at No. 15 in the nation while the women rank No. 17.

"The future looks bright for both the men's and women's squads," he said. "We have just got a ton of momentum. Experience is priceless, and if these young men and young women keep buying in and trust what is going on, they will all see growth and that is the beauty of this sport. Whether you are running number one or number nine, you can look back on a year and find a great deal of accomplishment in seeing your times drop."