Milligan University

ELSAH, Ill. (Nov. 19, 2016) â€" Milligan College's cross country teams traveled to the campus of Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, to compete in the NAIA National Championships. The Buffaloes faced cold and windy conditions, and the race featured a course with an uphill start and numerous challenges throughout. Both teams battled and resulted in a 15^th place finish for the women's team and a 24^th place for the men.
 
Milligan's women's team finished with three runners in the top 100 and the entire team in the top 200. Senior Hannah Segrave led the Buffaloes with a second place finish, moving up five spots from her junior season finish. Segrave finished in 17:08.73, almost five seconds ahead of the third place finisher.
 
"Hannah is just a consummate professional," Head Coach Chris Layne said after the race. "Even after coming down with bronchitis early in the week, she didn't panic, kept her focus and continued to do everything she could to be ready to go. We both knew top 3 was a possibility and I think this just speaks to her talent and passion to get the most out of herself."
 
"I'm so happy," Segrave said after her runner-up finish. "I always wanted to finish top three so to be able to do it after not feeling too great at the beginning of the week… I can't even put into words how happy I am. I think we as a team did a good job and many of the girls had really good races."
 
Junior Sarah Kate Gartman for the second race in a row, finished second for the Buffaloes and placed 60^th among team runners with a time of 18:33.64. Senior Amber Grello followed Gartman with a 98^th place finish and a time of 19:08.02. Freshman Katlyn Haas set a personal record of 19:04.78 and finished 101^st. JJ Robinson rounded out the top five for Milligan with a 152^nd place finish. Ashton Bunch and Erica Stone placed 179^th (19:53.07) and 196^th (20:06.90) respectively.
 
"Knowing we were coming into this meet with Hannah sick (bronchitis) and JJ having missed all of last week due to an unlucky knee injury from the conference meet, I can't say enough about their performance today," Coach Layne said of the team. "They battled the entire way on an extremely tough course. I think Sarah Kate Gartman and Katlyn Haas really had standout performances and I'm proud of JJ for battling today to run no. 5 for us. We all knew she wasn't herself."
 
The finishes gave Milligan a score of 413, leading to a 15^th place finish, one spot above Appalachian Athletic Conference Champion SCAD Atlanta.
 
The men, ranked outside of the top 25 going into the race, brought a strong group effort to break their way in. Senior Taylor Tafelsky led the way with a 30^th place finish (19^th among team runners) with a time of 25:13.7 to wrap up his final cross country season.
 
"Taylor has the ability to hit the switch when he wants and I'm not at all surprised to see him step up today and finish his cross country career with another All-American honor," Layne said of Tafelsky. "He stayed patient early on and just picked through the field."
 
Following the race, Tafelsky was more excited by the team's finish than his own. "We came into the race 31^st and to see the team take 24^th, that's not just me. That's the other six guys on the team. I think that was good to see for them."
 
Fellow senior Brandon Ellis followed in 87^th place and finished in 26:05.6. Underclassmen Mitch Bronstetter and Carson Kirby finished less than half of a second apart, and placed 127^th and 128^th among team runners. Kirby's finish was a personal record. Freshman Sam Wehner rounded out Milligan's top five with a 186^th place finish in 27:04.9. Garret Welsh and Peter Mermilliod finished 204^th (27:22.2) and 219^th (27:58.4) respectively.
 
"I felt like our men were a little under-ranked all season but that doesn't mean a lot if you don't step up when the opportunity presents itself," Layne said. "This was definitely a team effort and it's great to see the direction our men are headed. We knew Taylor and Brandon would be steady but I also think Mitch and Carson played a big role in the men cracking the top 25."
 
Following the race, two of Milligan's runners earned All-American status. Segrave's second place finish and Tafelsky's 30^th place finish qualified them as All-Americans for the second year in a row.