Kearney wins second straight national weekly award
It is no joke that Milligan University's Emily Kearney won her second straight NAIA national track athlete of the week. Kearney was selected based on her performance last week (March 22-28) and was selected out of a pool of conference and Association of Independent Institutions award winners.
MILLIGAN, Tenn. (April 1, 2021) – It is no joke that Milligan University's Emily Kearney won her second straight NAIA national track athlete of the week. Kearney was selected based on her performance last week (March 22-28) and was selected out of a pool of conference and Association of Independent Institutions award winners.
The NAIA's announcement followed the Appalachian Athletic Conference's previous announcement of Kearney as the AAC track athlete of the week, also for the second straight time.
Kearney grabbed her third No. 1 NAIA mark, another one by a long shot, as she entered into her final season of eligibility two weeks ago. She is a four-time NAIA national champion, four-time national runner-up, 10-time All-American and 15-time AAC champion in cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field prior to arriving at Milligan.
Kearney's scorching 10k time of 33:09.65 helped her land the weekly honor this week. The time is No. 1 in the NAIA over three minutes and also saw her grab the Milligan record and a personal best. Kearney won the race by over four minutes and now has the fastest NAIA time at 1500 meters, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. At 33:09, Kearney's 10k time also ranks No. 2 among all collegians this season and is No. 5 in her home country of Great Britain.
Kearney's 1500-meter time leads the nation by over two seconds, and her 5k time leads the nation by over 25 seconds.
Next up for Kearney and the Buffs will be the AAC Championships, set for Friday-Saturday, April 23-24.