Women’s Cross Country continues at No. 2 in NAIA national rankings

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (October 26, 2023) – The Milligan University women's cross country team was tabbed as the No. 2 team in the NAIA Women's Cross Country Top 25 Coaches' Poll on Thursday.

The Buffs have had No. 2 national billing for all five rankings releases this season. Milligan has been No. 1 or No. 2 in the last 18 polls, dating back to 2021. College of Idaho took over the No. 1 spot from defending national champion Taylor with 585 rankings points and 14 first-place votes. The Buffs garnered a season-high six first-place nods. Saint Mary, Taylor and The Master's round out the top five.

Milligan has been ranked in every NAIA national top 25 dating back to the start of the 2015 season, a streak of 65 polls.

The Buffs took home individual and team titles at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge at Sequoyah Park in Knoxville. Caitlin Dominy collected her first-ever collegiate cross country win with a personal-best cross country 5k time of 17:29. Dominy's effort was the fifth-fastest cross country 5k in team history. She was honored as the conference and national runner of the week for her effort.

Ellen-Mary Kearney was the individual runner-up in 17:35 and Hannah Brown finished third with a season-best mark of 18:04. Gracie Allen (ninth, 18:24), Zanelle Willemse (10th, 18:27) and Patricia Barrera (11th, 18:27) rounded out Milligan's scoring five.

Milligan won the meet title with a team score of 23 over three teams that rose in the latest national rankings, No. 11 Montreat, No. 17 SCAD Savannah and No. 22 Huntington.

Milligan heads back to Knoxville for the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships next Friday.