No. 2 Women’s Cross Country ready for 21st-straight NAIA National Championship appearance

VANCOUVER, Wash. (November 15, 2023) – The No. 2 Milligan University women's cross country team will make its 21st-straight team appearance at the NAIA National Championships at the Fort Vancouver Historic Course in Washington on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

Milligan ran to a national runner-up finish at last year's national championship at Apalachee Regional Park in Florida. The Buffs claimed the NAIA national championship in 2021 at Fort Vancouver with Alyssa Bearzi capturing the individual national title. Milligan spent the entire 2023 season ranked No. 2 in every edition of the NAIA national coaches' poll.

The Buffs claimed their 18th Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) title two weeks ago in Knoxville. Milligan swept the top four finishers and had all five scorers inside the top seven to win the team's fourth-straight conference title with a team score of 17. Ellen-Mary Kearney repeated as the AAC Champion and AAC Runner of the Year and was joined the All-AAC First Team by Caitlin Dominy, Hannah Brown, Zanelle Willemse and Gracie Allen. Patricia Barrera and Natalie Fellers collected All-AAC Second Team honors. Head coach Chris Layne was named AAC and USTFCCCA South Region Coach of the Year honors and Keraney was tabbed as the USTFCCCA South Region Athlete of the Year.

Over the course of the regular season the Buffs won four meet titles and recorded a head-to-head record of 68-4, including a 15-4 mark against NCAA Division I opponents. Milligan's notable head-to-head triumphs included Wake Forest, Furman, South Carolina, NCAA Division II No. 14 Wingate and NCAA Division III No. 12 Lynchburg.

At the 2022 NAIA National Championships, Milligan finished second with a team score of 177. The Buffs had three All-American performances with Kearney (eighth), Dominy (14th) and Bearzi (18th) finishing inside the top 20. The Buffs have five top-10 finishes in the last six seasons and eight-straight top-15 national showings.