Buffs Swimming Begins NAIA National Championships with Runner-Up Result and Two School Records

Paxton Smith, Caleb Fry, Joash Mckonie and Stephen Gilbert teamed up to set the Milligan record in the 200 Yard Medley Relay with a 1:27.42 time, while becoming the first ever national runner-up for the Buffs
Paxton Smith, Caleb Fry, Joash Mckonie and Stephen Gilbert teamed up to set the Milligan record in the 200 Yard Medley Relay with a 1:27.42 time, while becoming the first ever national runner-up for the Buffs
March 5, 2025

ELKHART, Ind. — The Milligan University men's and women's swim teams began their quests at the NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championships in Elkhart, Ind. on Wednesday evening with their highest ever finish in a relay at nationals, as well as two school records.

The opening day of the NAIA Championships included the 200 Yard Medlay Relay on both the men's and women's sides, as well as the 800 Yard Freestyle Relay on both sides.

Milligan's women in the 200 Yard Medley Relay included Samantha van Vuure, Teagan Jose, Mary Grace Bitting and Madison Akbari, as that group placed ninth out of 14 squad with a time of 1:48.16.

The men's outfit in the same event put forth a runner-up finish, which is the first time that a Milligan relay has ever finished as the runner-up at nationals. The swim by Paxton Smith, Caleb Fry, Joash Mckonie and Stephen Gilbert was finished in 1:27.42, which is a new Milligan program record.

During the women's 800 Yard Freestyle Relay, the Buffaloes placed seventh of 14. Their group, consisting of Riley Renaud, Bitting, Peyton Brady and van Vuure made a 7:48.03 with their efforts.

The men's 800 Yard Freestyle Relay was completed by Robert Adam, Gellert Szedlak, Andre Bazzana and S. Gilbert, who combined to notch a 6:39.21, which was another new Milligan record in a fifth-place effort out of 12 competing programs.

Events continue on Thursday morning, as preliminaries for the 500 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Individual Medley and 50 Yard Freestyle begin at 9 a.m. ET. Those events will have their finals during the evening session, which begins at 5 p.m. ET.