No. 1 Men’s XC opens season at Covered Bridge Open

BOONE, N.C. (September 2, 2022) – The No. 1-ranked Milligan University men's cross country team opened its season among a slew of NCAA Division I squads at Appalachian State's Covered Bridge Open on Friday evening.

The Buffs finished fifth out of 13 teams, ahead of four DI institutions.

"I think we finished a place higher than last year running without 3 of our top 9 guys, so it's great to see this type of depth continuing to develop," said head coach Chris Layne. "The large majority of our guys that ran here in 2021 took a big step today."

Returning All-Americans Will Stockley and Aaron Jones turned in top-30 finishes in the 146-runner field.

Stockley led the way for Milligan in its opener with an 8k time of 25:54 to finish 15th and Jones clocked in at 26:18 to finish 28th.

Transfer Arran Kearney and sophomore Alex Brittain both logged top-40 individual finishes as Kearney took 38th in 26:35 and Brittain followed in 39th (26:36).

Alex Haggard rounded out Milligan's top five in 26:49, good for 52nd-place. Much like last fall, Milligan's one-through-five spread was under a minute (25:54-26:49).

"Really proud of Will's patience today to run no. 1 for us and then guys like Arran Kearney, Alex Brittain and Alex Haggard really delivered," said Layne.

Sylas Chambers finished 58th in 26:58 and Pablo Rivas placed 62nd in 27:08.

The Buffs return to action Sept. 23 at the Queen City Invitational in Charlotte.