Milligan swim teams turn in strong outings at Liberty

LYNCHBURG, Va. (November 13, 2021) – Milligan University's nationally-ranked swim teams competed at Liberty University against NCAA Division III Roanoke and Lynchburg and came away with three dual meet wins, four school records, five NAIA "A" cuts and 19 NAIA provisional times on Saturday afternoon.

Milligan's men earned a 137-125 win over Roanoke and a 177-85 triumph over Lynchburg. The women's swim squad took a 144-118 victory over Lynchburg and was edged by Roanoke 133-129. Both Milligan swim teams rank in the top five nationally as the Buffs opened the year at No. 2 on the men's side and No. 4 for the women.

Milligan achieved NAIA "A" cuts in both 400 medley relays to open the meet. Maggie Blazo, Bre Coley, Gabby MacPherson and Liz Mahan clocked in a 4:05.62 on the women's side and the men's grouping of Wiktor Perkowski, Aubin Dulin, Andre Bazzana and Stephen Gilbert notched a qualifying time of 3:29.66.

The Buffs' closed the event with back-to-back "A" cuts in 400-yard freestyle relays. Mahan, Tyler Cates, MacPherson and Blazo swam a 3:42.69 and Ben Hawkins, Bazzana, Perkowski and Gilbert posted a 3:08.48, a team record.

Gilbert posted an NAIA "A" cut, Milligan school record and the second-fastest time in the nation in the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:39.85. He recorded provisional times in the 100 free (46.70) and 400 IM (4:08.82), both of which rank third overall in the NAIA. His 100-yard freestyle effort was also a program record.

Blazo notched provisional times in the 100 free (55.47), 200 free (1:58) and in the 100 backstroke (1:00.41) as the leadoff for the Buffs' medley relay.

MacPherson swam to a pair of first place finishes with provisional times in the 100 fly (1:00.48) and 200 fly (2:10.38).

Cates won both backstroke events with NAIA-qualifying efforts of 1:00.24 in the 100 back and 2:12.57 in the 200 back.

Kaylee Williams secured provisional times in the 100 breast (1:08.38) and 200 breast (2:29.56). Dulin also collected to provisional swims in both breaststroke events at 59.96 and 2:11.00. Coley collected a provisional time in the 100 breast (1:10.11), as did Hawkins in 58.41. Hawkins also landed a first place finish in the 1000 freestyle (10:01.77).

Bazzana reset his own Milligan record in the 200 fly and secured a provisional mark with the fastest time in the nation this season at 1:53.94. He also won the 100 fly while hitting the provisional standard in 51.18.

Perkowski achieved an NAIA provisional time with a 52.86 in the 100 back.

"Fairly pleased with our performances today and looking forward to having our swims a bit more spread out next week at Fall Frenzy, especially for our distance types," said head coach Spencer Scarth. "Roanoke and Lynchburg are two really strong and well-run programs, having split the ODAC titles last year. Our team did a good job of racing, particularly towards the end of the meet and at the end of a week of illnesses/injury. We still have some things to work on, but I know next week will produce some tremendous swims. Start to finish, was an exciting meet all around in a fantastic facility."

Milligan heads to Charlotte for the Fall Frenzy Invitational next weekend for their final meet of the fall semester.