BOONE, N.C. – The No. 4-ranked Milligan University men's cross-country team traveled to Boone, N.C. on Friday morning for the Covered Bridge Open, hosted by Appalachian State University at their on-campus cross country course. Three programs attended the event, as the Buffs joined App State and the University of Georgia in the race. The Buffaloes placed third as a team with 85 points.
"It was a really unique environment today with a small field and high humidity," said director of cross country and track & field
Chris Layne, "but I like how our athletes handled themselves. We held out a lot of runners who we anticipate will be in our top seven as the season unfolds, but it was great to officially get the season under way."
Evan Holbrook paced the MU squad by running to a 23
rd-place finish with a time of 20:12.2 in the 6k race. He was followed by
Caleb Akins (24
th, 20:26.0), who made his collegiate debut for Milligan.
Daniel Martin achieved the third-highest finish for a Buff, finishing the race in 20:40.2, while
Bailey Wade also concluded his run in under 21 minutes at 20:48.7.
It was
Andrew Whaley who finished fifth for the Buffaloes, clocking in at 21:08.5, and
Jaiden Carmichael (21:15.1) and
Luke Garner (21:27.0) rounded out their top seven.
Matthew Richardson (21:37.7),
Joshua Starr (21:48.7),
Noah Smith (21:51.7),
Ethan Wellman (21:58.2) and
Graham Mizell (22:12.1) rounded out the list of Milligan competitors.
"The race went out hard and our guys played it smart," Layne stated. "I might have had them play it a bit too smart, but we gained a lot of valuable experience today that will help this team as we move through the schedule."
Milligan will now look forward to the Southern Showcase and the Brevard Invitational, as the squad will split up on Friday, Sept. 18 for more competition to aid their trek toward the AAC Championships in November.
RESULTS
