Buffs run to victory in historic home race

MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Sept. 13, 2019) – Both the No. 15 men and No. 17 women of the Milligan College cross country program ran an excellent race in the college's first event on campus in its 20-year history. In a dual meet against Appalachian Athletic Conference member Tennessee Wesleyan, Milligan ran away with the victory on both sides.

Nathan Baker (14:55) led a group of men who earned the top seven finishes in the three-mile race. Gabrielle Mardis (11:09) broke the Milligan record for two miles and led the women who placed seven in the top eight.

"We couldn't have asked for a better night," Head Coach Chris Layne said. "It was priceless for our teams to be able to race in that environment – a huge shoutout to Buff Nation for showing up and making a ton of noise."

Following Baker was Tim Thacker (15:22), Alex Mortimer (15:44), Mitch Bronstetter (15:45) and Andrew Burton (15:55) who helped Milligan win with a perfect score, placing all five scorers in the top five spots. Pablo Rivas (15:57) and Cory Aulich (16:03) finished next in sixth and seventh, while Samir Koko (16:08/10th), Eli Baldy (16:14/11th), Seth Nicol (16:16/12th), Tyler Bates (16:30/14th), Alex Windham (16:45/16th) and Adam Wall (17:29/18th) also represented Milligan in the historic race.

Avery DeWolf (11:19) finished runner-up on the women's side, followed by Bekah Owen (11:24) in fourth, Katlyn Haas (11:29) in fifth, Hannah Bell (11:38) in sixth, Caitlin Dominy (11:45) in seventh and Amy Ferguson (11:46) in eighth. Ali Burns (12:05/11th) and Maci Cloninger (12:11/12th) rounded out the women's results for Milligan.

"I felt like our teams were ready to run well so I definitely had more jitters when it came to putting on a first class event for our two teams and for the spectators," Layne said. "This was special so I wanted to make sure we dotted the I's and crossed the T's."

Up next, Milligan competes in the Queens City Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina, Friday, Sept. 27.