Aaron Jones, No. 2 Men’s XC take titles at Queen City Invitational

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 23, 2022) – Junior Aaron Jones and the No. 2 Milligan University men's cross country team collected titles at the Queen City Invitational at McAlpine Creek Park on Friday evening.

The Buffs took the team title at the Queen City Invite for the second-straight season as Milligan recorded a team score of 25 and total team title of 2:05:01, 21 points and 1:43 ahead of second-place Anderson (S.C.). Milligan was first overall out of 15 teams at the event, ahead of a pair of NCAA Division I squads and two regionally ranked NCAA Division II teams. The Buffs recorded a spread of 1:04 with five top 10 finishers.

"Really pleased with how both squads executed early on and then how they competed late in the race," said head coach Chris Layne. "We have looked good in training so it's great to see that carry over. I'm really impressed with how composed our younger crew have been and I think that has a lot to do with the leadership as well."

Jones, who set Milligan's all-time 8k record (23:55) at Charlotte last fall, won the 130-man race in 24:24. It marked his fifth career cross country victory in 12 collegiate races.

Bryn Woodall posted a cross country personal best as a Buff as he finished fifth in 24:44. His effort lands him No. 8 on Milligan's all-time 8k cross country leaderboard.

"Aaron and Bryn played it smart early on and then chipped away at a few of the guys that took it out," said Layne. "Aaron was able to get away and finish well which just speaks to his strength right now."

Will Stockley (25:02) and Jake Crow (25:23) followed in sixth and seventh place respectively.

Sophomore Alex Brittain logged his fastest 8k time (25:28) and highest cross country finish (10th) as a Buff to close out Milligan's top five.

Graduate transfers Alex Haggard and Dawson Reed completed Milligan's top seven. Haggard took 13th in 25:34 and Reed was 25th in 26:01.

Evan Henson (29th, 26:15) and Arran Kearney (30th, 26:18) would have scored for a dozen teams at the meet. Pablo Rivas made it 10 Buffs in the top 40 as he finished 36th in 26:28.

Milligan hosts the Eli Cramer Invitational on campus next Friday.