Milligan University

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (Nov. 5, 2016) â€" Milligan College's cross country teams traveled to Montreat College on Saturday to compete in the Appalachian Athletic Conference championship meet. The men's team won the conference title, thanks to five Buffaloes finishing in the top 15. Senior Hannah Segrave cruised to win the women's 5k, leading the women to a second place finish.
 
The men got the day started with a dominating performance. Senior Taylor Tafelsky led the Buffaloes and finished second overall with a time of 26:18.1 in the 8k. Freshman Mitch Bronstetter was not far behind, finishing fourth overall with a time of 26:36.1 Also finishing in the top 10 was senior Brandon Ellis, who finished seventh with a time of 26:55.0. A pair of underclassmen rounded out the Buffaloes' top five, with Sam Wehner finishing 13^th and Carson Kirby finishing 14^th. Milligan had three top 10 finishes and five in the top 15. No other team had more than two top 10 finishes or three in the top 15.
 
"The men have really started to click and I'm proud of their effort during the second half of today's race. We were down a little going into the three mile mark but they finished well," Head Coach Chris Layne said after the win. "This is another positive step for the men's program and I think our leadership has done a great job of bringing the young guys along. We have three freshmen in the top seven and they've been so important to our success this year."
 
On the women's side, Segrave dominated the race for her second AAC title in a row. She finished in 17:53.3, 19 seconds ahead of the second place finisher.
 
"Hannah has embraced everything I've thrown at her," Layne said. "Three years ago this same weekend, Hannah had just cracked our top 7 for the first time to make our team to nationals and now she'll be making her 10th straight national appearance in track and cross country." 
 
Junior Sarah Kate Gartman followed Segrave for the Buffs, finishing sixth overall with a time of 19:24.4. Teammate JJ Robinson followed a few seconds later, resulting in a seventh place finish. Senior Amber Grello finished in 19:41.7 and placed ninth. Two more Buffaloes finished in the top 15, with freshman Katlyn Haas coming in 11^th place and Ashton Bunch coming in 14^th.
 
The race turned into a top 10 matchup between the No.8 Buffaloes and No.9 Bees from SCAD Atlanta.  Despite the strong showing, the Buffaloes fell two points short of champion SCAD Atlanta, who had runners finish second, third, fourth, fifth, and 18^th. Only one other team had one runner finish in the top 10 while placing another runner in the top 15.
 
Despite the narrow defeat, Coach Layne remained optimistic following the race.
 
"This is certainly bittersweet," Layne said. "But this team is headed to the national championships for a 14th straight year and what they've accomplished separates this group of women from a lot of folks."
 
In two weeks, both teams will wrap up the fall season at Principia College outside of St. Louis for the NAIA National Meet. Additional information can be found at the link above.
 
Following the race, the AAC announced its All-Conference awards. On the men's side, Tafelsky, Bronstetter, and Ellis all made the All-Conference team, with Bronstetter and Wehner qualifying for the All-Freshman team. Wehner and Kirby were named to the All-Conference seond team. Chris Layne won Coach of the year for the second year in a row.
 
Also for the second year in a row, Hannah Segrave was named AAC Runner of the year. Gartman and Robinson,also made the All-Conference team, with Bunch, Haas, and Grello being named to the All-Conference second team. Freshman Katlyn Haas was the lone Buffalo on the All-Freshman team.