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On September 4th, the young ALC Eagles cross country team made the trip to Milligan, Tennessee to compete in the Buffalo Valley Cross Country Stampede hosted by Milligan College. The race was held at a local golf course. The runners ran up the fairway of one hole, around the green, and down the fairway of another. The women repeated the loop 4 times for their 3 mile race while the men ran 5 times for a 6K run.

Shiloh Jekel and Brittney Buttrey

Shiloh Jekel and Brittney Buttrey

On the women’s side, freshman Brittney Buttrey, and senior Shiloh Jekel both ran well to be so early in the season. Buttrey crossed the finish line at 21:39 placing 11th while Jekel crossed at 22:55 placing 15th. Sophomore Hayley Short battled hard as she ran the course in 26:55; she placed 23rd. 

Jacob Medley

Jacob Medley

On the men’s side, freshman Jacob Medley ran the 6k in 23:16 placing 22nd.  Fellow freshman Caleb Mills was the next Eagle to cross the finish line. His time of 26:53 placed him 29th. Sophomore John Driskill and freshman Zach Templeton both came in back to back. Driskill ran a time of 27:10, while Templeton crossed the line in 27:44; they earned 31st and 32nd respectively.

On the afternoon, both clubs took a lot away from this meet. This was the first collegiate race any of the runners had been in and they quickly learned how serious the competition is on this level. Rather than be deterred, each member of the squad is hungry and excited to prepare for their next race. Coach Brandon Arnold is pleased with the progress his young squad is making and is eager to see how much improvement they make over the next month.

The next match will be on September 24th when they face Pikeville in the Black Gold meet.