Milligan, Montreat Finish in Top 5 at NAIA Cross Country Championship

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) was well-represented at the 2024 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship on Friday as Milligan and Montreat placed in the top five and collected eight NAIA All-American honors.

The 6K race was held at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo.

Milligan and Montreat battled all day with the top teams and finished fourth and fifth, respectively. The Master's (Calif.) won with a score of 92, edging Taylor (Ind.) by one point. St. Mary's (Kan.) was third with 125 points, and Milligan tallied 129 points to place fourth. Montreat was next in line with 179 points for fifth overall.

SCAD Atlanta also competed as a team and finished 17th overall with 498 points.

In addition to having teams finish fourth and fifth, the AAC had the fourth- and fifth-place runners. Heather Murphy of Montreat crossed the line fourth with a time of 21:02.4, and Ellen-Mary Kearney of Milligan was right behind her in fifth with a time of 21:03.0.

Murphy and Kearney both earned NAIA All-American honors as did Katie Clarke of SCAD Atlanta (12th), Ali Ray of Montreat (13th), Alyssa Bearzi of Milligan (16th), Dylan Garcia of Montreat (17th), Hannah Brown of Milligan (27th), and Kirsten Geary of Milligan (29th).

For a full look at the results, click here.