There was a spirit of optimism after the Milligan College men’s and women’s cross country teams competed Saturday at their first event of the season, the Festival in the Fields at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. The men’s team, ranked 20th nationally in the NAIA, finished in sixth place in the six-kilometer race, ahead of East Tennessee State University, Roanoke College and Longwood (Va.) University.

Coach Chris Layne was pleased with the team’s performance. “You have started on the right foot,” he told them after the event. “Continue with this attitude and intensity and you’ll make some noise as the season progresses.”

Junior All-American Chris Wright placed 18^th with a time of 20 minutes,11.22 seconds, while former Science Hill standouts Nathan Bowers (20:55.53) and Jair Collie (21:05.21) finished 34th and 35th respectively. Brandon Talbert (21:11.66) placed 39th and Josh Ferry (21:29.24) finished 51st, in a field of eighty-five finishers. Rounding out the field of Buffs was Seth Harkins who finished 61^st with a time of 22:10.48.     

The women’s team, ranked 23rd in the nation, competed as “A” and “B” teams in the four-kilometer race, finishing eighth and ninth out of ten teams competing.

All-American juniors Megan Lease (15:21.41) and Marta Zimon (15:59.48) finished eighth and seventeenth respectively.

“Overall, I think we had a good first run as a team,” said Lease. “It showed us where we are and how much we need to work in order to get where we want to be.”

Lease was pleased with her placement.

“I felt strong during the race. I sort of died toward the end, but that will improve as we train more,” she said.

Layne praised her for “a very strong effort for this early in the season.”

Freshman Jessica Carpenter (16:59.64), a graduate of Elizabethton High School, finished 37th, while former Happy Valley All-State runner freshman Kortney Goulds finished 54th, followed closely by Erika Fox in 55th place out of a field of seventy-nine finishers. Other finishers included Amber Peace (18:41.61), Megan Allen (18:43.58), Rachel Carriger (19:31.30), Bailey Carter (19:57.50), Brittany Bales (20:29.66) and Gina Jury (20:30.67), who finished 57^th, 58^th, 66^th, 68^th, 72^nd and 73^rd respectively.

Layne is optimistic about the rest of the season.

“The women’s team has talent on paper, but right now we only have a handful of girls who are stepping up,” Layne said. “We’re young and that’s to be expected until we get the hang of things.”

The home team, Virginia Tech, won first place overall. The next event for Milligan is at the Brevard (N.C.) College Invitational on Sept.11.