Lady Buffs move to No. 14 nationally
MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (October 27, 2005) --- The Milligan College women's cross country team made a big leap from No. 23 to No. 14 in the latest NAIA national rankings released Thursday afternoon. The Lady Buffs' nine spot jump was the biggest move in this week's rankings.
The Lady Buffs are coming off a solid third place finish at last weekend's Southeastern Classic in Mt. Berry, Ga. behind NAIA powerhouse programs Cedarville (Ohio) University and Malone (Ohio) College, ranked No. 4 and No. 9 this week respectively.
Milligan's 86 points were just three points shy of No. 13 ranked Indiana Wesleyan University, and marks the highest ranking ever by a Milligan cross country team.
"Our women have earned each and every point, but we've got two more races to prove we belong in this company," said Milligan head coach Chris Layne.
Leading Milligan all season has been senior All-American Megan Lease (Camden, N.C.) who has finished no worse than tenth in any race this season. She currently leads the AAC 5000 meter rankings by over 30 seconds. The 2-3 duo of freshman standout Jacklyn Talbert (Mt. Carmel, Tenn.) and junior All-American Marta Zimon (Lodz, Poland) have also been key to Milligan's success.
"It's taken the young and old to make this happen. You expect Megan Lease and Marta Zimon to do their job, they're experienced, but it's our crew of underclassmen that continue to drop time week after week as well," said Layne.
Canada's Simon Fraser University remains in the top spot with 175 points, followed by Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) University with 168 points and Concordia (Calif.) University with 161 points.
Both squads are idle this weekend before traveling to Louisville for the AAC/Region 12 Championships on November 5.
http://naia.collegesports.com/sports/w-xc/spec-rel/102705aaa.html