By Neal Johnson

September 9, 2014

 

Last Friday, Milligan’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams hosted their first home meet of the year. Being the only home meet, there was a lot of fan support from students, faculty, and family members.

 

There was great anticipation to see the new and improved teams, especially our number 12 ranked women’s team, now mostly comprised of freshman and sophomores.

 

The women kicked it off by placing Cassie St. John in third place with a time of 18:41.97. After the meet, Cassie was overall happy with her performance and the Lady Buff’s performance as a team.

 

 “I felt good about the race, but it could’ve been better without the heat factor.” Cassie stated. “This race was good for the team as a whole. It helped everyone get a taste of what it is like to run collegiately, and by the end of the year, we should be one to contend with.”

 

Following Cassie in 6th and 8th place were Sophomores Hannah Segrave and Amber Grello with times of 19:13.64 and 19:30.58.

 

On the men’s side, sophomore Taylor Tafelsky captured the sixth place finish with a time of 19:50.94. He has a positive outlook about the remainder of the season.

 

“Our team’s goal for this year is to make it to the National Championship,” said Tafelsky. “We are going to keep striving to get better and hopefully we can achieve that goal.”

 

Following Taylor in 7th and 8th place were Senior Christian Brewer and Sophomore Brandon Ellis with times of 19:58.63 and 20:00.27.

Milligan will have their next meet on September 20 at the Asheville Cross Country Carnival in Asheville, North Carolina.