KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On Friday morning, the No. 6-ranked Milligan University men's cross country squad took to the course at Sequoyah Park as part of the NAIA Appalachian Challenge 8k, hosted by Tennessee Wesleyan University. The event included many of the region's top programs and served as a great litmus test for the Buffaloes, who lived up to high expectations, posting nine personal-best times and finishing second out of 20 teams.

"It was a great day all-around," said head coach Chris Layne. "You could see this coming in training, and they just lined up with tons of confidence and executed."
 
It was Winston Telford's strongest 8k run of the year, as he was the first Milligan finisher in seventh place at 24:38.2. The surging Aaron Gottlied came in just behind him at 24:38.7, which was a personal-best 8k mark for him by over 40 seconds. There was also a personal-best run from Josh Hale, who finished 18^th in 24:52.8.
 
The last two of the top five scores came via Bryson Lewis (21^st, 24:56.7) and Luke Kennedy (29^th (27 points), 25:14.8, PB), as the Buffaloes rounded out the competition with 81 points to place second behind only No. 3-ranked University of the Cumberlands (Ky.).
 
Milligan also saw Rowen Moser-Bryan (33^rd, 25:18.4, PB), Marti Molins Rallo (40^th, 25:26.1, PB), Joseph Abbott (41^st, 25:27.8, PB), Evan Holbrook (56^th, 25:54.9, PB) and Jack O'Leary (58^th, 25:59.6, PB) come in under 26 minutes in the race.
 
It was Granville Sexton, finishing at 26:58.5 in 99^th (PB) who rounded out the list of MU competitors.
 
"As good as the men were today," Layne continued, "with nine of 11 of them grabbing PB's, there is still room for them to take another step. That is exciting as we close in on conference."
 
In a pair of weeks the Buffaloes will be tasked with a title defense at the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Championships on Nov. 7 back at Sequoyah Park in Knoxville. The team is looking for their seventh straight cross country championship in the AAC.

RESULTS