Eli Cramer sets Milligan 8k record as No. 6 Men’s Cross Country dominates Queen City Invite

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 24, 2021) – Sophomore Eli Cramer set Milligan's all-time 8k record and the Milligan University men's cross country team had five runners post sub-25 minute times bested 33 other teams to win the Queen City Invite in Charlotte on Friday evening.

Results

The Buffs defeated five NCAA Division I opponents in the record-setting race. Each of Milligan's top five finishers either moved up or moved in to the program's top 10 fastest 8k runners.

"Conditions were perfect today and when that's the case, this is a fast course," said head coach Chris Layne. "We don't get that very often so I'm really happy both teams had the opportunity to see their talent and hard work pay off."

In a field of 310 runners, the Buffs had five finishers in the top 11 with sub-24:30 times. The Buffs one-through-five posted a 10-second spread (24:17-24:27) and had another runner finish in the top 25.

Cramer became the fastest men's cross country runner in program history, posting a 24:17 8k time, breaking three-time All-American Austin Ellis' 24:18 mark set at the 2011 NAIA National Championships. Cramer finished fifth overall.

"Eli has looked really good in training so I'm not surprised to see this from him today," said Layne. "He is all in, all the time, heck, all of these guys are and they're just an extremely talented group that are continuing to feed off each other."

Graduate student Will Stockley became the third-fastest 8k runner in school history in his second-ever race for the Buffs. He took seventh at 24:20.

Sophomore Aaron Jones made his season debut with a 24:26 to finish ninth and become the fourth-fastest men's cross country runner in team history. Junior Jake Crow finished 10th immediately behind Jones at 24:26 to become Milligan's fifth-fastest 8k runner.

Senior Nathan Baker rounded out the Buffs' top five with an 11th-place finish in 24:27. Baker improved upon his personal-best time by 27 seconds and left as the sixth-fastest runner in Buffs' men's cross country history.

Senior Alex Mortimer posted a PR of 25:02 to finish 23rd.

Freshman Zimri Kuhn posted a 25:32 to finish 43rd and classmate Alex Brittain posted a 25:41 to take 47th.

Eli Baldy took 58th in 25:54, Seth Jinks was 65th in 26:03, Evan Henson crossed 70th in 26:06 and Sylas Chambers capped the Buffs at 85th in 26:21. All 12 of Milligan's runners finished in the top third of the race.

"I was also extremely proud of our freshmen today," said Layne. "They handled themselves so well and they were able to gain a tremendous amount of experience that will pay off down the line."

Milligan cross country returns to Charlotte on Oct. 8 for the Royals Challenge.