The Cavaliers of Montreat College hosted the AAC Cross Country Championships for the second consecutive year.  Over 100 runners gathered on Saturday's chilly morning to take on one of the truest tests and toughest cross country courses in the southeast.

Austin Ellis of Milligan College took home the top spot by winning the grueling 8K race in a record 24:53.  Bryan College (#5 nationally) took the team honors with 20 points, 24 points ahead of second place Milligan.  Montreat College was third with 87 points.

Leading the way for the Cavaliers was senior Ben Hall (Columbus, NC).  Hall finished his last AAC race in 8th place, his highest finish at the conference championship.  Hall covered the distance in his personal best time of 25:52.  By finishing in the top 5 spots outside of the winning team, Ben earned himself a trip to the NAIA National Championship later this month.  This will be Hall's third time qualifying for the national championship.

Other personal best performances were run by Jared Nielsen (Jr./ Charlotte, NC), Alex Brito (Fr./ Mooresville, NC), Noah Hall (So./ Columbus, NC) and David Parker (Fr./ Charlotte, NC).   Nielsen finished in 25th overall with a career best 27:41, while teammates Brito ran to a PB of 28:09 and Noah Hall finished in 37th overall with a career best of 29:38.  And freshman David Parker set his personal best time at 32:22.

Alex Brito was named to the All-AAC Freshmen team by finishing as the 6th fastest freshman in the men's 8k.  Brito's 29th place finish and his 28:09 is the Cavalier program's fastest 5th man time.  The Cavaliers average team time of 27:22 was the program's fastest average in school history.

Montreat's places and times:
Ben Hall- 8th, 25:52
Winston Rheinbolt - 23rd, 27:34
Daniel Dunn- 24th, 27:35
Jared Nielsen- 25th, 27:41
Alex Brito- 29th, 28:09
Hunter Howe- 33rd, 28:34
Andrew Hege- 45th, 31:44
David Parker- 48th, 32:22

On the women's side, Milligan College (#14) once again took home the AAC crown with a team score of 21 points.  Montreat College finished 4th with a team total of 93 points. 

Montreat was led by junior Lindsay Mizok (Weddington, NC).  Mizok narrowly missed qualifying for nationals by one place, finishing in 12th overall in a fine time of 20:34.  Rebecca Henderson (Sr./ Lexington, SC) and Elyse Gildernew (Sr./ Lookout Mountain, GA) finished 19th and 20th place, respectively.  Freshman Kimberly HIbbitt (Cleveland, OH) finished 22nd overall in 22:50, while teammate Katelyn Lukencena (Fr./ Candler, NC) crossed the line in 35th overall in 26:08.

Kim Hibbitt also earned a spot on the All-AAC Freshmen Team by finishing as the fourth fastest freshman in the women's 5k race.

Click here for full WOMEN'S 5K RESULTS or full MEN'S 8K RESULTS

The NAIA National Championship will be held in Vancouver, Washington on November 20th.