No. 2 Women’s Cross Country captures 18th AAC championship

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (November 3, 2023) – The No. 2 Milligan University women's cross country team claimed its 18th Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) championship and sophomore Ellen-Mary Kearney repeated as the AAC's individual conference champion at the AAC Cross Country Championships on Friday morning.

Milligan swept the top four finishers, had all five scorers inside the top seven and placed 10 runners inside the top 20. The Buffs took home the meet title with a team score of 17, 25 points ahead of the runner-up, No. 11 Montreat. Milligan's men also won the conference title, marking the fourth-straight AAC sweep for the program.

"A really good day to be a Buff," said head coach Chris Layne. "I thought both squads had a complete effort and it was really encouraging to see us close our 1-5 gaps like we did on both sides."

Milligan posted a total team time of 106:42 and had nine runners record top-10 6k times in team history.

Kearney repeated as the AAC champion and set Milligan's all-time 6k record at 20:55. She topped a 91-runner field at Sequoyah Park. She was honored as the AAC Runner of the Year for the second-straight season.

"Ellen-Mary had a few rough weeks and good to see her back on form today with a big win and impressive run," said Layne.

Caitlin Dominy finished as the AAC runner-up for the second-consecutive season, crossing the finish line in 21:14. Hannah Brown followed in third (21:20) and Zanelle Willemse placed fourth (21:30). Gracie Allen completed Milligan's top five in seventh in 21:40.

Patricia Barrera finished 11th in 22:05 and Natalie Fellers crossed seventh for the Buffs in 13th place in 22:16.

Kaelyn Slaughter (16th, 22:30) and Ashlyn Haas (18th, 22:47) made their way into the final two spots of Milligan's all-time 6k top-10 leaderboard and Anna Jones was 20th in 22:58.

Isabelle Johnson placed 22nd in 23:08, giving Milligan 11 of the top 22 runners at the conference championship meet.

Kearney, Dominy, Brown, Willemse and Allen were awarded All-AAC First Team honors. Barrera and Fellers were named to the All-AAC Second Team. Layne was awarded the AAC Women's Coach of the Year for the 18th time.

Milligan collects the AAC women's cross country crown for the fourth-straight season and clinches a spot for the Buffs at the NAIA National Championships for the 21st-straight season. The 2023 NAIA National Championships are Nov. 17 at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Championship Course in Vancouver, Wash.