Women's Cross Country Finishes an Impressive 6th at AAC Championships
KNOXVILLE, TN - The Columbia College women finished an impressive 6th out of 14 schools at the 2025 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Women's Cross Country Championship on Friday at Sequoyah Park in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Koalas finished with 192 points just missing the top five while they were 18 points ahead of 7th place Bryan.
Milligan claimed five of the top seven individual spots to win the team championship with a score of 20 while Montreat was second with 65 points. SCAD Atlanta (85 points) took third. followed by Reinhardt (105 points), Brenau (140 points) and Columbia to round out the top six.
The Lady Koalas were led by senior Juliana Gonzalez as she placed 43rd out of 110 runners (29 team points) with a time of 24:20 in the 6K race (3.7 miles). She was also named to the AAC Champions of Character Team as well. Gonzalez and Buccino were also named to the AAC All-Academic team as well with 3.25 GPAs.
Finishing runner-up for the Koalas was sophomore Avarose Buccino placing 55th in 25:08 with 39 points while the freshmen tandem of Alissa McCann and Annsley Howle came across in a virtual tie for 56th place in a time of 25:24 to combine for 81 points. Finishing up the scoring was freshman Aja Rushing placing 59th in 25:34 to earn 43 team points.
Running as individuals was senior Jennyfer Vigueras placing 70th in 27:38 while freshman Ellie Fisher was 73rd in just under 28 minutes while freshman Micaela Cross was 89th as she crossed in 30:21.
"It went well!" commented head coach Tanner Graham. "Between both teams, 15 runners set new personal records and are proving that we are moving in the right direction. Our women improved their times in an even tougher conference than it has ever been."