Ranked no. 4 nationally after the Region XII Champs two weeks ago, the women placed five women in the top 50, and set 5 new lifetime bests to finish with 163 points. Canada's Simon Fraser University, the no. 1 team in the nation all season, won the meet with 99 points, despite the fact their fourth girl stopped in the middle of the race. Cedarville University finished second with 145 points.
Leading the Lady Buffs was junior Jacklyn Talbert (Mt. Carmel, Tenn.) who finished 28th overall with a time of 18:23 on the challenging 5k loop. Talbert shaved 12 seconds off her lifetime best and in doing so earned All-American honors. Junior Ashley Pearce (St. Cloud, Fla.) was perhaps the biggest surprise of the day. Pearce finished 33rd overall in a new personal best time of 18:26, more than 25 seconds off her previous best. Senior MacKenzie LaBonte (Port Charlotte, Fla.) finished 37th with a time of 18:30, while senior Erika Fox (Gambrills, Md.) crossed the line in 49th with a time of 18:43. Junior Nicole Moore (Boise, Idaho.) rounded out the top five for Milligan with a 56th place finish. Her time of 18:47 was also a new personal best.
Freshman Lili Zaldana (Bristol, Tenn.) , a former standout at Tennessee High School, finished 83rd overall with a new personal best time of 19:00.
Milligan's women were also honored as the recipient of the NAIA National Champions of Character Team Award during the weekend's events.
"Our women clicked when it counted the most, this was definitely a complete team effort. I'm honored to work with this group of young ladies," said head coach Chris Layne.
Milligan's individual men also had a strong showing. Freshman Benjamin Ronoh (Mogogoseik, Kenya) finished 16th overall to earn All-American honors. His 8k time of 25:15 was the second fastest of his young collegiate career. Junior Wegene Degefa (Rochester, N.Y.) finished 73rd overall with a time of 26:03. Ronoh and Degefa were also the top two male finishers from both the AAC and Region XII.
"Ben and Wegene are laying the foundation for our men to equal the success on the women's side. I'm really pleased with how they both responded today," said Layne.