Buffs maintain top 10 in national poll

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (Nov. 19, 2020) – The Milligan University men's cross country team held on to their presence in the national top 10, following its team and individual victories at last week's Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship. The NAIA announced the poll on Thursday and ranked Milligan No. 10.

This marks the 59th consecutive week the Buffs have been inside the national top 15 and the second straight week they have been in the top 10.

"I don't envy the raters this year. Not only are we missing teams that simply aren't competing, you have teams racing places they might not typically race and it's just tough to get the right read on folks I would imagine," Head Coach Chris Layne says. "We know what we've got on our end so hopefully we'll all have the opportunity to line up in April on the same course and go at it."

Freshman Aaron Jones earned AAC Runner of the Year honors with a personal best winning 8k time of 25:10.94 in leading Milligan to the AAC title. The victory, their fourth AAC title in the last six seasons, kept their undefeated season intact as they won their sixth race. Jones was the first of five Buffs in the top six. Tim Thacker, Eli Cramer, Nathan Baker, and Alex Mortimer followed Jones as the next to score.

Milligan is next set to compete at the NAIA Men's and Women's Cross Country National Championships, scheduled for Friday, April 9, 2021, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Last year, the Buffs finished eighth on the women's side and 14th on the men's side.