Milligan, SCAD win Asics Sand Shark Invitational

Milligan’s women and SCAD Savannah’s men claimed the team titles with impressive performances Saturday at the 10th annual Asics Sand Shark Invitational presented by Mortgage Network.

Hannah Segrave defended her title and broke her own course record with a time of 17 minutes, 14 seconds, in the 5K women’s race, leading eighth-ranked Milligan to a one-point victory over SCAD Atlanta.

Segrave edged USCB senior Betsy Douglas by four seconds, as Douglas shattered her own school record by 32 seconds with a time of 17:18. Douglas owns seven of the top 10 times in program history, including each of the four fastest.

SCAD Atlanta placed four runners in the top 11, led by Greta Van Calcar (3rd, 17:34) to finish with 71 points, one behind the Buffaloes. All of Milligan’s top seven runners placed in the top 38, including three in the top 15.

Douglas led USCB to a 14th-place finish among 27 teams, as Jaime Thomas (35th, 19:18), Hannah Johnson (132nd, 21:23), Kirsten Wartko (175th, 22:52), Scottie House (180th, 22:58), Aysha Merrill (210th, 24:46), Gabby Ward (218th, 25:27) all ran the best times of their collegiate careers.

The Bees placed four runners in the top 13 in the 8K men’s race to finish with 74 points, edging Berea by eight points. Milligan was third with 95 points.

Cumberlands (Ky.) senior Sam Beal claimed the individual title with a time of 24:33, 11 seconds ahead of SCAD Savannah’s Matthew Smith. The Bees also got strong performances from Ace Brown (8th, 25:27), Callum Drake (10th, 25:45) and Max Groff (13th, 25:54).

Only two men competed for host USCB, with Nic O’Neill finishing 57th in 27:04 and Akira Durst placing 207th in a personal-best 37:45.

A total of 246 women and 216 men completed the race.

The Sand Sharks’ home course also will be the site of the Sun Conference Championships, which will be run Nov. 5.

This story was originally published October 22, 2016 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Milligan, SCAD win Asics Sand Shark Invitational."