Men win, women runners-up at swim opener

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (Oct. 3, 2020) – Freshmen Stephen Gilbert and Gabby MacPherson helped the Milligan University swimming program pick up nine national cuts and break three Milligan records Saturday when the teams opened the 2020-21 season at the Kingsport Aquatic Center.

Milligan's men were victorious in the field of three teams. Milligan's women were runners-up in the field of four. The Buffaloes tallied 100 points on the men's side and 104 on the women's side, the latter second to Lees-McRae College with 124 points.

"The depth, talent and cohesiveness of our team really showed today," Head Coach Spencer Scarth said. "I think the men surprised themselves, as they took down two Division II schools that kind of knocked our squad around last year, which goes to show how much we have changed in just a year. The women swam extremely well, and we had some eye-opening swims, including the school record in the 200 fly by Gabby, no easy feat to do when you're swimming by yourself."

Nine national qualifying times

Despite a significant drop in the standard measure for national qualification this year, Milligan still produced nine times good enough to qualify for the NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championships.

Gilbert earned three of the nine, including the 200 free, 100 back and 200 back. He swam the 200 free in a Milligan record 1:42.78, dropping nearly three seconds off Matthew McFalls' record from last season. Later, Gilbert swam another Milligan record with a 1:53.17 in the 200 back. This record dropped two and a half seconds off Sterling Burnett's record from 2019.

Other national qualifiers included MacPherson in the 200 free and 200 fly, six-time All-American Maggie Blazo in the 200 free and 100 back, and freshman Tyler Cates in the 100 back and 200 back.

MacPherson's 200 fly time of 2:11.76 broke the Milligan record of 2:12.82 previously held by Sarah Walsh since 2013.

"Both teams came into the meet with a lot of positive mindsets and a strong sense of togetherness," Scarth added. "It was great to hear our team being the loudest on deck throughout the meet. That really is a reflection of the strong leadership this team has. I'm really looking forward to a couple of hard weeks of training before we have our second annual Black vs Orange meet on Oct. 24."

Up next

Milligan will hold a home race on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 9 a.m. when the Buffaloes will compete in their annual orange and black meet. After that, they will head to Carson Newman (Nov. 7) and Union (Nov. 14) to close out the 2020 leg of their 2020-21 campaign.