In this week's NAIA Women's Cross Country National Rating, the Milligan College women's cross country team held on to their No. 10 ranking for the second straight week. The Lady Buffs received 146 points in this week's poll, only one point behind No. 9 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) University.
Milligan head coach Chris Layne's group ran to a third place finish at the Southeastern Classic held in Berea, Ky. last Saturday. The Lady Buffs' finished third behind No. 5 Cedarville (Ohio) University and No. 6 Malone (Ohio) College. Milligan, with 82 points, was 11 points behind Malone while Cedarville won the Southeastern Classic with a team score of 39.
Sophomore Jacklyn Talbert (Mt. Carmel, Tenn.) finished sixth overall with a lifetime-best 5,000 meter time of 18:58, and her time also placed her third on Milligan's all-time list. MacKenzie Labonte (Port Charlotte, Fla.) finished seven seconds behind Talbert and finished 11th overall. Rebecca McDowell (Mechanicsville, Va.) and Kortney Goulds (Johnson City, Tenn.) finished in the top-20 with times of 19:18 and 19:35 respectively for the Lady Buffs.
The top-two remained the same for the seventh straight week with Simon Fraser (B.C.) University at No. 1 followed by Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) University. Concordia (Calif.) University and Black Hills State (S.D.) University flip-flopped with Concordia now third and Black Hills State falling to fourth. With their win in the Southeastern Classic, Cedarville jumped over Malone to round out the top-five.
Next for the Milligan men's and women's cross country team is the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC)/NAIA Region XII Championship. The AAC/Region XII Championship will be at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, in Louisville, Ky. on Saturday, November 4. The women's squad is looking to capture their fourth straight AAC and Region XII championship and earn a birth in the NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship scheduled for Saturday, November 18, also at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park.