National qualifiers highlight day two of AAC swim championships 

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (Feb. 14, 2020) – The Milligan College swim team highlighted day two of the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships with 16 national qualifying times and are entering day three with an overall third place standing. Milligan currently has 638.5 points with the women accounting for 311.5 and in third place for the women and the men have 327 and are in fourth place for the men.

National qualifiers 

Two Milligan squads in the women's 200 freestyle relay were able to achieve national A standards for their efforts in the first event of the evening. The team of Anna Hathcock, Jordan Clark, Rachel Scheffer and Maggie Halloran finished in third place with a time of 1:43.09. The other relay team finished with a time of 1:49.65 and included Anna Backus, Isabel Siegel, Kaylee Propst and Marlie Henegar. On the men's side of the 200 freestyle relay the team of Matthew McFalls, Logan Garzonio, Grant Luckett and Ben Hawkins were able to achieve a national A standard with a time of 1:29.08. 

In the women's 400 IM, Lindsey Grow achieved a national A standard with a time of 4:58.34. Grow cut her prelim time down by 14 seconds. On the men's side, Jarod Blazo was able to achieve a national standard with his efforts, finishing with a time of 4:30.42.

In the women's 100 butterfly three Buffs were able to achieve national standard times. Scheffer led the group with a fourth place finish and a time of 1:01.97. Hathcock was after her with a time of 1:02.32 and Clark was after her with a time of 1:03.08. On the men's side, Garzonio finished in fourth place with a national standard time of 53.40.

In the men's 200 freestyle, McFalls achieved a national standard with a time of 1:48.04. In the men's 100 breaststroke, Hawkins and Elijah Manship were able to achieve national standard times due to their efforts. Hawkins had a time of 1:00.66 and Manship finished with a 1:01.22. Garzonio was able to achieve a national standard in the men's 100 backstroke with a time of 55.61. 

Both men's and women's 400 medley relay teams were able to achieve national A standards. The women's team consisted of Scheffer, Grow, Clark and Halloran and the men's team was made up of Garzonio, Hawkins, Ed Lee and McFalls. The women finished in third with a time of 4:11.82 and the men finished in fourth with a time of 3:40.15. 

Halloran's success 

So far, the Buffs have won two events with both wins coming from Halloran. Halloran won the women's 500 freestyle on Friday and won the 100 backstroke on Saturday with a time of 59.10. In both events Halloran achieved national A standards and overall, she has achieved five national standards while competing in the championships. 

Up next 

Milligan will begin the final day of the AAC Championships on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 9 a.m. at the Kingsport Aquatic Center in Kingsport, Tenn.