Men’s Cross Country closes regular season with No. 1 national ranking

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (October 27, 2022) – The Milligan University men's cross country collected the No. 1 ranking in the final regular season edition of the NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll on Thursday.

The Buffs collected an in-season high of 17 first-place votes and topped the chart with 557 rankings points. The Master's held steady as the No. 2 team in the NAIA with two first-place votes and 536 points.

The 2021 NAIA national champs collected No. 1 status for the fourth time this season and fifth time in program history. Milligan men's cross country has appeared in last 27 NAIA national rankings dating back to 2018 and have made 14-straight top-10 appearances.

Milligan took first place at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge in Knoxville on Friday. The Buffs edged now seventh-ranked Montreat by three points in the team standings and had three top-10 finishers.

Aaron Jones collected his sixth collegiate cross country victory as he ran the second-fastest 8k time of his career at 24:10. Will Stockley was the individual runner-up in the 128-man field at 24:11.

Bryn Woodall, Arran Kearney and Zimri Kuhn each logged personal best 8k times. Woodall recorded a 24:39 effort to finish sixth. Kearney finished 10th in 25:06 and Kuhn crossed 14th in 25:17.

Milligan begins its postseason journey next Saturday at the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships. The Buffs are eight-time AAC men's cross country champions and have won the last three AAC titles.