Bryan College's cross country teams competed at the AAC Cross Country Championships on November 8, 2024, at Sequoyah Park in Knoxville, Tennessee. The event tested Bryan's runners as they went up against strong teams in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.

Women's Team Highlights

The Lady Lions took 8th place in the team standings with a score of 210. Junior Carissa Wilson led the team with a time of 24:04.16, finishing 29th overall. Elena Irwin placed 45th with a time of 25:38.65, while Anna Driller and Katherine Riggs placed 56th and 61st, finishing in 27:19.72 and 27:37.12. Freshman Juliana Sneed and Ella Lipscomb completed the scoring.

Men's Team Highlights

The men's team finished 7th with a score of 205 points. Zachary Sever led the team, finishing 25th with a time of 26:18.93. Jayden Brabson came in 52nd at 28:18.94, and Samuel Olsen was 57th at 28:35.61. Devin Henderson and freshman Tyler Dugan added to the team's score.

Coach's Reflections

Coach Jasper Wilson shared his thoughts: "I was very excited to be at my first conference championship today. I have a ton of respect for every team that competed in today's race. I believe we truly have one of the toughest, if not the toughest conference in the country.

Our teams performed well today. We came up a bit short in the end on both sides by just a few points to move up one spot. This has been a year of firsts for a lot of us on this team, myself included. It is certainly not how we wanted to end our season, but you just use this as motivation moving forward. I have a lot of belief in the individuals we have and we are going to work harder than ever moving forward into track season. Our first indoor meet is in a few short weeks, so we will be preparing for that to knock out some conference qualifiers early. Very thankful for the support from the staff and faculty, family and friends, alumni, and all of the Bryan Community. Go Lions!"

The teams now focus on building from this experience, training for track season.