Riley Renaud wins 1650 free title as Swimming places fifth at NAIA National Championships

COLUMBUS, Ga. (March 4, 2023) – Freshman Riley Renaud became the first Milligan women's swimmer to win an NAIA national title as the Buffs earned fifth-place team finishes on the final day of the NAIA National Championships.

"Overall as a team, we performed much better than last year even with a similar finish," said head coach Spencer Scarth. "We still have a relatively young group that is learning a lot along the way… valuable experiences that they will be able to bring back home to their teammates.

Both Milligan swim teams matched their previous top team finish with fifth-place showings at the national championship meet. Both teams set program records for points scored at the meet with the men racking up 337 points and the women totaling 284. Milligan's 28 combined All-Americans are the most at a single national championship meet in school history. The Buffs collected 12 women's All-American honors and 16 men's All-America awards. All 10 of the Buffs' relays secured All-American status. Milligan set 21 team records at the championship meet.

"The NAIA has gotten SO much faster in just the last two years which has really elevated everyone's times to a new level," said Scarth. "We had some disappointments and some races not go as planned, but plenty of things to look forward to and change heading into the 2023-2024 season."

Renaud won gold in the women's 1650-yard freestyle with a school record time of 17:21.03. She entered the championships as the No. 3 seed in the event and dropped 8.04 seconds from her seed time to win the title by just over a second. Renaud is the 30th individual or event national champion in Milligan University history.

Peter Gilbert and Jacob Miller earned All-America honors in the men's 1650 free. Gilbert placed sixth in 15:59.07 and Miller was eighth in 16:15.56.

Caleb Fry swam to his third All-American honor and school record of the national championship meet. He posted a 2:00.43 in the 200-yard breaststroke to finish fourth. Ben Hawkins also secured All-American status in the event in 2:04.60. Jack Allen swam to a 14th-place showing in the 200 breast in 2:07.70 after posting a personal best swim (2:06.41) in the prelims

Kaylee Williams earned her second All-American award of the meet with a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard breast. Her time of 2:21.92 is a school record.

Gabby MacPherson collected All-America honors in the 200-yard butterfly with a program record time of 2:05.98. Mary Grace Bitting finished 10th in the 200 fly in 2:06.97.

Stephen Gilbert (1:50.50) and Andre Bazzana (1:51.76) both secured All-America honors in the 200 fly. Gilbert finished fourth for his second individual All-America award of the meet and Bazzana repeated as an All-American in the event.

Tyler Cates posted the fourth-fastest 200-yard backstroke in finals at the NAIA National Championships with a school record time of 2:02.88 but narrowly missed a spot in the championship finals in the morning session. Her time led the consolation finals as she finished ninth.

Both teams closed the meet with school records and All-American honors in the 400-yard freestyle relays. Liz Mahan, Bitting, MacPherson and Samantha van Vuure finished seventh in 3:33.55. Fry, Jayden Bearden, Bazzana and Stephen Gilbert were fifth in 3:03.14.

"None of our scoring members graduate and we have another strong group coming in next fall," said Scarth. "Now the work begins to get us into the top three!"

NAIA All-Americans

Tyler Cates – 100 Back – 4th, 57.53
Gabby MacPherson – 500 Free – 6th, 5:04.91
Gabby MacPherson – 200 Fly – 5th, 2:05.98*
Riley Renaud – 500 Free – 5th, 5:03.57*
Riley Renaud – 1650 Free – 1st, 17:21.03*
Kaylee Williams – 100 Breast – 7th, 1:04.13*
Kaylee Williams – 200 Breast – 6th, 2:21.92*
Tyler Cates, Kaylee Williams, Gabby MacPherson, Samantha van Vuure – 200 Medley Relay – 6th, 1:46.45*
Tyler Cates, Kaylee Williams, Gabby MacPherson, Samantha van Vuure – 400 Medley Relay – 5th, 3:52.17*
Liz Mahan, Mary Grace Bitting, Gabby MacPherson, Samantha van Vuure – 200 Free Relay – 4th, 1:36.68*
Liz Mahan, Mary Grace Bitting, Gabby MacPherson, Samantha van Vuure – 400 Free Relay – 7th, 3:33.55*
Riley Renaud, Gabby MacPherson, Samantha van Vuure, Tyler Cates – 800 Free Relay – 3rd, 7:36.75*

Andre Bazzana – 200 Fly – 7th, 1:51.76
Caleb Fry – 50 Free – 3rd, 20.28*
Caleb Fry – 100 Breast – 4th, 54.69*
Caleb Fry – 200 Breast – 4th, 2:00.43*
Peter Gilbert – 500 Free – 6th, 4:35.02
Peter Gilbert – 1650 Free – 6th, 15:59.07
Peter Gilbert – 400 IM – 8th, 4:04.72
Stephen Gilbert – 200 Fly – 4th, 1:50.50
Stephen Gilbert – 400 IM – 2nd, 3:56.24
Ben Hawkins – 200 Breast - 7th, 2:04.60
Jacob Miller – 1650 Free – 8th, 16:15.56
RJ Brumit, Caleb Fry, Andre Bazzana, Stephen Gilbert – 200 Medley Relay – 4th, 1:30.71*
RJ Brumit, Caleb Fry, Ethan McCosh, Stephen Gilbert – 400 Medley Relay – 5th, 3:21.44*
Caleb Fry, Cole Brusher, Andre Bazzana, Stephen Gilbert – 200 Free Relay – 3rd, 1:22.85*
Caleb Fry, Jayden Bearden, Andre Bazzana, Stephen Gilbert – 400 Free Relay – 5th, 3:03.14*
Andre Bazzana, Jayden Bearden, Peter Gilbert, Stephen Gilbert – 800 Free Relay – 4th, 6:45.20

* - Milligan Record