Junior Avery DeWolf and freshman Aaron Jones claimed the Appalachian Athletics Conference title of champions and led each of their teams to win the fall championship when the buffs’ Men’s and Women’s Cross Country closed out their fall season on Saturday, Nov. 14.
The Men’s team was first out with their 8k run, with Aaron Jones winning the race by 36 seconds with a time of 25:11 over Montreat College’s senior Moses Dirane. The buffs additionally claimed four spots in the top 6, leading them to the win.
“I was very eager to race today. I knew myself and the other guys were very sharp for this one and I knew we’d do great things,” Jones said.
Avery DeWolf won the women’s 5k run by 15 seconds with a time of 18:02, closely accompanied by Bekah Owen and Gabrielle Mardis who claimed the second and third placements with their times of 18:17 and 18:27 respectively. Along with claiming all three top titles, the Lady Buffs had a total of six runners in the top 12.
“I was definitely nervous going in, I didn’t know exactly who might be running up with me so I wanted to know how the race would start out!” said DeWolf. “It was my goal to win, and I was happy with how I did. My teammates definitely gave me a challenge so that’s always fun.”
“Before our race, we were able to see the boys finish and it got us super excited because we saw how well they all did,” said Caitlin Dominy. “It was a really good day and I’m super proud of the whole team for making sacrifices all year to stay healthy and put our season first. Every single person on the team put in so much hard work this year and it clearly paid off.”
Up next, the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams will head to Cedar Rapids, IA, to run at the NAIA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country National Championships that are currently set for Friday, April 9. Last year, the Women’s team finished eighth and the Men’s team finished 14th.
Headline photo: Milligan’s Women’s Cross Country team wins the AAC Championship and Avery DeWolf claims the individual title.