Lady Buffs Cross Country has Four All-Americans, Finishes Fourth at NAIA National Championships
COLUMBIA, Mo. – On Friday afternoon, the Milligan University women's cross country team placed fourth at the 2024 NAIA National Championships for the second straight year with a quartet of All-Americans crowned at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo.
"I am extremely proud of this squad and how they represented our program on the national stage yet again," said head coach Chris Layne. "This league is so competitive at the top so we just really wanted to keep the focus on each athlete being the best version of themselves on the day. The women finished with four all-American honors, so they deserve a tremendous amount of credit for how they performed."
Milligan had a total of four runners finish in the top 30 runners, notching a 129-point total for the race as a five-member squad. That score was a marked improvement upon last season's 145-point fourth-place finish at the 2023 NAIA National Championships.
Ellen-Mary Kearney stepped up with a 21:03.0 time to finish fifth as an individual. She picked up five spots over the course of the final 1,000 meters to achieve the top-five showing.
"We saw incredible leadership yet again this year," stated Layne, "and I can't say enough about our senior, Anna Jones, who has been here all four years representing Milligan and helping keep this culture in the right place."
Alyssa Bearzi came across the line in 16th, grabbing 15 points toward the team score. She clocked in at 21:24.3, her second-best 6k time ever.
Hannah Brown's strong showing in the season finale earned her a 27th-place finish with 26 points added to the score. She came in with a clip of 21:39.8, which was her best 6k time of the season by nearly 18 seconds.
Kirsten Geary was right behind Brown, finishing 29th with 27 counting points. She posted a 21:40.4 as the fourth MU finisher.
Patricia Barrera came in 62nd place, notching 56 points. She provided a 22:20.2 time to become the final counting finisher for Milligan in their fourth-place performance.
Ashlyn Haas (68th, 22:24.5) and Karly Wilhjelm (174th, 23:23.4) were Milligan's last two of their seven-runner squad for the NAIA National Championships.
Each of the first four Buffs finishers were named NAIA cross country All-Americans, including Kearney, who became a three-time honoree. Bearzi also earned her third career recognition, while Brown snatched her second straight. Geary became a cross country All-American for the first time after her two previous years running at Georgetown (Ky.).
As an added bonus, the two Milligan squads combined to take the team title in terms of lowest combined score. Additionally, it was the women's fourth striaght podium finish at nationals.
"It's hard enough to have one team on the podium, let alone two," said Layne in reference to the teams each finishing in the top four, "so to see them walk away with the combined team title again is always incredibly rewarding and I think that speaks to the commitment made by a lot of folks from our administration to our student-athletes."