Men’s cross country wins season opener
Five Buffs earned spots in the top nine, led by senior Tim Thacker, and the Milligan University men’s cross country team won its season opener Friday night at Montreat.
BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (Sept. 18, 2020) – Five Buffs earned spots in the top nine, led by senior Tim Thacker, and the Milligan University men's cross country team won its season opener Friday night at Montreat.
Thacker earned the individual runner-up spot in 20:39 with freshmen Aaron Jones (20:47) and Eli Cramer (21:16) taking the spots immediately behind Thacker. Andrew Burton (21:33) and Jake Crow (21:44) took spots seven and nine, respectively, in the four-mile race.
"I know our teams have been looking forward to this opportunity for a while now," Head Coach Chris Layne said, "so we knew they'd be ready to go. I felt like these were two very strong performances in very tough course conditions due to all the rain we've had in the region."
All 10 Buffs who competed finished in the top 18, including seven in the top 12.
"On the men's side, that was two of the best in the NAIA going at it up front, and Montreat's Moses Dirane (20:29) is a tough competitor. I can't say enough about our two freshmen tonight with Aaron Jones and Eli Cramer going 3-4 in their collegiate debut."
As a team, Milligan tallied 25 points compared to 33 points from runner-up Montreat. The field featured seven teams and over 60 individuals.
Up next, Milligan runs at Bryan in the Dual on the Mountain next Friday, Sept. 25. The Buffs will host Bryan and Tennessee Wesleyan the following Friday, Oct. 2, in the second annual Buffalo Creek Invitational.