Season Preview: 2021 Women’s Cross Country

MILLIGAN UNIVERSITY, Tenn. (September 2, 2021) – The Milligan University women's cross country team looks to repeat as Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) champions and make its 19th-striaght appearance at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships in 2021.

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Milligan women's cross country enters the season No. 4 in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 poll. The Buffs open their 2021 campaign at Appalachian State's Covered Bridge Invitational on Friday, Sept. 3.

2020-21 Season Review: Milligan's women's cross country team finished first in five of its seven meets in the 2020-21 season, including the 2020 AAC Championship in November.

At AACs, each of the first three individual finishers were Buffs and Milligan claimed its first cross country title with 25 points. Each of Milligan's top six runners finished inside the top 12 and seven Buffs earned All-AAC First Team or Second Team honors.

Head coach Chris Layne collected AAC Coach of the Year and USTFCCCA South Region Coach of the Year honors.

The Buffs were ranked inside the top 10 in all seven NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 poll, peaking at No. 3 in the nation during the regular season.

At the NAIA National Championship, juniors Avery DeWolf Burton and Bekah Owen became the 12th and 13th Milligan women's cross country runners to achieve All-America status. Burton  placing sixth and Owen finished 18th at the Seminole Cross Country Course in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

As a team, the Buffs placed seventh at the NAIA National Championship, marking the sixth-straight top 15 showing at the NAIA National Championship for the program. It also marked Milligan's second straight top 10 finish and third top eight placement in the last four years.

"Last year was pretty special across the board as it relates to what our crew had to navigate with Covid," said Layne. "They really impressed the heck out of me as they never wavered and then put the finishing touches on a great season with their effort at nationals"

2021 USTFCCCA AAC Preseason Poll: The Buffs top the USTFCCCA's AAC Preseason Coaches Poll after capturing the AAC crown last fall. Milligan looks to score back-to-back conference titles in 2021 for the first time since 2017. The AAC is the largest NAIA women's cross country conference in the country with 15 teams.

Appalachian Athletic Conference Preseason Poll

1. Milligan (Tenn.)
2. Montreat (N.C.)
3. SCAD Atlanta (Ga.)
4. Tennessee Wesleyan
5. Columbia (S.C.)
6. Truett McConnell (Ga.)
7. Bryan (Tenn.)
8. Reinhardt (Ga.)
9. Union (Ky.)
10. Kentucky Christian
11. Brenau (Ga.)
12. Bluefield (Va.)
13. CIU (S.C.)
14. Point (Ga.)
15. St. Andrews (N.C.)

Key Returners: The Buffs welcome back six of seven that competed at the NAIA National Championship this past spring.

"Experience is the key here and then you go to the type of young ladies they are," said Layne. "You don't worry about them as a coach and you know they're guiding this next generation the right way."

Burton returns after an outstanding 2020-21 cross country campaign. She was the AAC Runner of the Year, AAC Champion and an NAIA All-American in 2020-21.

"Avery is the epitome of what this women's program has been about," said Layne. "Not highly touted out of high school, her passion for the sport grew and she then just digs in and works her tail off.  She's a talented young lady but she just had to realize it and now the sky is the limit for her."

Burton was Milligan's top finisher in all five meets that she appeared in last year and logged four first place finishes. She won the AAC title by 15 seconds with an 18:02.1 effort.

At the NAIA National Championship, Burton ran a season best 17:53.4 and was Milligan's highest finisher at the NAIA National Championship since Milligan Hall of Famer Hannah Segrave finished as the national runner up in 2016.

Senior Gabrielle Mardis claimed All-AAC First Team honors last year by finishing third with a season best 18:27.1 at AACs. Mardis finished among the top three in four of her five appearances during the 2020-21 cross country season. At the NAIA National Championship, Mardis finished 61st (18:49.9). 

"This is Gabrielle's last go around and she'll play such an important role with the team as a captain and someone that brings so much national experience to the table," said Layne. "She has remained healthy all four years and has continued to just build one season after the other and taken those relevant steps. The hard part with Gabrielle has just been getting her to understand she can be as good as we think she can be"

Sophomore Australian Alyssa Bearzi looks to make an impact on the cross country course after a strong debut campaign on the track. In the 2020-21 indoor track season, Bearzi ranked 13th nationally in the 3000m and 16th in the 5000m. She finished 11th in the indoor 5k at the 2020-21 NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

"Alyssa had an unfortunate mishap at indoor nationals last year that kept her out of cross country nationals so we're really confident she'll be another bright spot for this women's team," said Layne. "She has outstanding credentials and has returned in a great place this season."

Juniors Ali Burns and Caitlin Dominy all earned All-AAC Second Team status as the trio finished 11th and 12th at last season's AAC Championships.

Burns clocked in at 19:27.1 at the conference championship and was Milligan's fifth scorer at the NAIA National Championship. Dominy set a personal best 18:51.3 at Montreat and logged three top 10 finishes and a pair of top five showings to open the season.

Sophomore Gracie Allen finished 14th at AACs and was Milligan's fourth finisher at the NAIA National Championship. She logged three top 10 finishes in her freshman season, including a collegiate best 19:15.7 at Montreat.

Sophomores Lauren Spry and Camila Rivas joined Allen on the AAC All-Freshmen Team. Spry finished 17th at AACs and ran a season best time (19:49.9) at the NAIA National Championship. Rivas finished 25th at the conference championship meet. 

 Newcomers: Austrian graduate transfer Lemi Wutz was a five-time NAIA All-American as an undergraduate athlete at SCAD Savannah. She was SCAD Savannah's first-ever women's cross country All-American in 2018 and repeated the feat the following year with a second-straight top-10 finish at the NAIA National Championship.

"Lemi is obviously one of the top women in the NAIA who brings a tremendous amount of experience and leadership to this program," said Layne. "I'm certain we're going to see her take another step this season so she is going to really impact this group up front."

The Buffs add seven freshmen into the mix for the 2021 cross country season. The incoming class features a slew of multiple-time TSSAA state cross country qualifiers.

Ellie Andreson (Barboursville, VA/William Monroe HS)
Alyssa Bearzi (Seabrook, Australia)
Rachel Dulaney (Jonesborough, TN/David Crockett HS)
Natalie Fellers (Limestone, TN/Daniel Boone HS)
Anna Jones (Murfreesboro, TN/Central Magnet)
Grace Krell (Telford, TN/David Crockett HS)
Annie McDermott (Cookeville, TN/Cookeville HS)
Marinda Walls (Gray, TN/Daniel Boone HS)
Lemi Wutz (Vienna Austria/SCAD Savannah)

Looking at the Schedule: Milligan cross country is slated to compete in four regular season meets leading up to the AAC Championships and NAIA National Championship.

The AAC Championship will be hosted by Reinhardt University on Nov. 6. The NAIA National Championship will take place on Nov. 19 at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Championship Course in Vancouver, Wash.

 "We're fortunate to be in a part of the country that provides a lot of great opportunities to race," said Layne. "We're trying to get to a number of opportunities that will challenge us so we're ready for the competitive environment we see every year at the NAIA National Champs."

 Three of Milligan's four regular season meets take place on Friday evenings, including the Covered Bridge Invitational (Sept. 3), Queen City Invitational (Sept. 24) and the Royals Challenge (Oct. 8).

 The Buffs' final tune-up before the AAC Championships will be the NAIA Southeast Classic on Oct. 24.

 Last Word: "This team has high expectations and I think we have the right leadership to do big things, and I think leadership is the key," said Layne. "This will be fun to watch unfold over the next three months"