HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — On Friday, the No. 4-ranked Milligan University men's cross country team split their squad between a pair of locales in the southeast. One set of runners headed to the Southern Showcase, hosted by Jacksonville State University in Huntsville, Ala., while the other contingent made the trip to Brevard, N.C., where they competed in the Brevard Invitational, hosted by Brevard College. The Buffaloes managed a 17th-place conclusion out of 29 teams in Huntsville and finished second out of five at Brevard.
"First off," director of cross country and track & field
Chris Layne said, "you have to give these kids a lot of credit. Everyone is managing it, but it's no fun training and racing in this heat and humidity."
Southern Showcase
At the Southern Showcase, the men's 8k race got going at 8:30 a.m. under humid conditions, and was heavily populated by top-notch NCAA Division I talent. The likes of Alabama, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Appalachian State, etc., made their way to the headliner event.
The Buffaloes' top finisher was
Caleb Greene, a graduate runner, who placed 72nd out of a total of 302 finishers. Running his first cross country race as a member of Milligan's squad, he turned in a 25:21.6 to pace the team.
Milligan had one more finisher in the top 100, as
Bryson Lewis concluded the race in 96th at 25:35.0.
Marti Molins Rallo (102nd, 25:39.5) was the Buffaloes No. 3 finisher in the race, and
Aaron Gottlied (131st, 25:57.1) came across next.
The final counting score for the Buffs came via freshman
Kevin McCurry, who placed 142nd and clocked a 26:04.4 in his first race as a collegiate harrier.
Luke Kennedy (170th) and
Evan Holbrook (175th) supplied the two alternate scores for MU.
Rowen Moser-Bryan (271st), Emils Mattias Reinfelds (288th) and
Caleb Akins (299th) also ran for the Buffaloes.
Overall, the team ended up 17th out of 29 teams in attendance with a score of 475 points.
"I'm really encouraged by Caleb's run today," Layne stated, "and Kevin gave a strong effort for his first-ever 8k. Emils had a tough opener, but he'll bounce back and we'll look a lot different once he's clicking."
Brevard Invitational
At the Brevard Invitational, the Buffaloes had a group of 13 runners reach the finish line. The first of them was
Daniel Martin, who came in 15th after a gaggle of runners from NCAA Division I USC Upstate and a pair of individuals. Martin finished in 28:59.0.
Robert Gould (17th, 29:08.6) and
Elijah Gouge (18th, 29:08.8) ran close together and finished side by side to take the second and third spots in the scoring for Milligan.
Joshua Starr managed a 21st-place showing, clocking a 29:24.2, with
Bailey Wade chugging behind him at 29:27.1 in 22nd. Those two rounded out the counting scores.
Jaiden Carmichael (23rd, 29:34.2) and
Luke Garner (24th, 29:51.6) were the alternates and had the final sub-30 minute times for Milligan.
Noah Smith (28th),
Graham Mizell (29th),
Daniel Hornbuckle (30th),
Talan Hammack (31st),
Caden Clifton (32nd) and
Ethan Wellman (40th) rounded out the list of Buffaloes finishers.
The squad ended up second out of five teams at the event, totaling 58 points, which was 24 clear of Brevard in third place.
"Brevard gave that crew the competitive environment they needed," Layne concluded, "and I hope that experience serves them well moving forward. Both Daniel and McKenna did a nice job leading their respective squads today."
The Buffaloes will return to the course on Oct. 9 in Charlotte, N.C. at the Royals Cross Country Challenge, hosted by NCAA DI Queens University.
Southern Showcase
RESULTS
Brevard
RESULTS
