Jones paces No. 13 Buffs in win of AAC Preview

SWANNANOA, N.C. (Oct. 17, 2020) – Freshman Aaron Jones led the No. 13 Milligan University men's cross country team to its fifth win in as many events Saturday morning when the Buffaloes ran away with the Appalachian Athletic Conference Preview. Jones was the first of five Buffs in the top 10.

The win kept Milligan undefeated through all five events of the season so far and included defeating No. 23 Montreat by seven points.

"We had Nathan Baker out today due to COVID-19 protocol, and we'll be happy to have him back in the mix, so our depth was going to have to be the difference today against a tough Montreat squad," Head Coach Chris Layne said after the race. "The guys are really buying in to what they can accomplish as a team, and there continues to be a ton of energy that makes this group a lot of fun to work with."

Jones paced the 52-man field with an 8k time of 25:30, winning by 22 seconds. Tim Thacker (26:04) followed in third, Eli Cramer (26:20) sixth, and Jake Crow (26:38) and Andrew Burton (26:40) rounded out Milligan's scoring in ninth and 10th. Minus Baker, the Buffs ran nearly a full squad, putting seven in the top 15 and 11 in the top 23.

"You had some of the top talent in the NAIA at the front of this race," Layne added. "Dirane from Montreat was the indoor national champion, Thacker the indoor mile runner-up, and Crow, who was a national finalist, so to see Aaron mix it up with that bunch and get away was pretty impressive. We knew he had a ton of talent and he's fearless when the gun fires."

Up next, Milligan competes at the AAC Championships on Saturday, Nov. 14. Montreat is set to host the event. The AAC Championships will wrap up the fall slate for the Buffs, as the NAIA National Championships were moved to Friday, April 9, 2021. The Buffs have won the AAC Championship three of the last five years.