Kearney and Stockley run national top-two times at Music City Challenge

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (February 9, 2024) – The Milligan University indoor track and field team had three student-athletes achieve automatic national qualifying standards at the Music City Challenge at Vanderbilt on Friday evening.

Ellen-Mary Kearney hit the NAIA "A" standard and ran the second-fastest mile in the NAIA this season (4:55.08). She finished sixth in heat four and 35th in a field of 115 runners. Kearney finished ahead of runners from NCAA Division I schools from the SEC, Big 12 and AAC. She was the No. 2 finisher among non-Division I teams.

Will Stockley also ran the No. 2 mile time in the country and hit the NAIA automatic national qualifying standard. He finished third in heat four in 4:07.04, ahead of runners from Tennessee, Ole Miss, Georgia and Georgia Tech. In a field of 93 runners, Stockley finished 25th and was the highest collegiate finisher from a non-Division I program.

Aaron Jones hit the NAIA "A" standard in the 5k in 14:39.82. He finished 13th in heat two with his top time of the season and 26th in the 61-runnerf field. His effort ranks inside the top 10 nationally.

Keith Fletcher won his heat in the 200 with a season-best time of 22.02. He finished 19th of 59 runners who competed.

"I think in every case tonight, we left something on the table time-wise, but that's why you do these races - to gain experience and learn something for the next big one," said head coach Chris Layne. "This group needs this type of challenge to keep growing and if we can run like this and be less than perfect, that's a true positive."

Bryn Woodall, Fletcher and Caitlin Dominy are set to compete at the Music City Challenge tomorrow.