Milligan swim team prepares for AAC Championships
The Milligan College swim team has had a successful season thus far but are looking to add to their success as they compete in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships this week, Feb. 13-15, at the Kingsport Aquatic Center in Kingsport, Tennessee.
MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Feb. 12, 2020) – The Milligan College swim team has had a successful season thus far but are looking to add to their success as they compete in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships this week, Feb. 13-15, at the Kingsport Aquatic Center in Kingsport, Tennessee.
Season recap
This year has included multiple school records being broken, and national cuts being achieved at almost every meet. In the latest NAIA Swim & Dive Top 10 Poll, both men and women received votes from their efforts during the season. Out of the pool, the swim team has made a splash in the classroom with both teams selected as CSCAA Scholar All-American, both ranked inside top 8 NAIA teams in team GPA. "We've had a tremendous year thus far, and we'll be looking to add to our group that's already qualified for nationals this week at conference," Head Coach Spencer Scarth says. "I'm very proud of what we've been able to accomplish in the classroom as well, as the men's team in particular has bumped up quite a bit from the spring semester," he added.
Season leaders
Maggie Halloran has had a very successful junior campaign so far. She has been named AAC Swimmer of the Week four times and has obtained national cuts in the 100 backstroke, 200 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 400 medley relay, 400 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 1500 freestyle and 1650 freestyle.
On the men's side, Sterling Burnett has led the men to success with three AAC Swimmer of the Week honors, three new school records and multiple national cuts as well. Burnett now holds the school records in the 100 backstroke, the 200 backstroke and the 400 medley relay. Burnett has recorded national cuts in the 50 freestyle, 50 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 200 medley relay, 400 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay.
Burnett was a part of the 400 medley relay team that broke the Milligan record. The relay team also included Ben Hawkins, Logan Garzonio and Matthew McFalls. Hawkins broke two other school records in the 500 freestyle and the 400 individual medley and Mitchell Martin broke records in the 1000 and 1650 freestyle, the latter of the two coming in the last regular season meet against Union College and King University.
On the women's side, Lindsey Grow is the new Milligan record holder in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley. Grow recorded national cuts in both of those events along with the 200 breaststroke, 400 individual medley, 200 medley relay and the 400 medley relay team.
Last season's AAC championships
Milligan finished last season with a combined second place finish, only 22 points behind Union for the conference championship. The Buffs then sent 16 members to the national championships with several All-American finishes and top 10 finishes.
"We will be pushed hard by some of the other bigger teams in our conference, but we expect to be top 3 on both teams and hopefully among the highest at nationals in a few weeks," Scarth said.