Buffs Men's and Women's Swim Programs Take AAC Championships for Fourth Year Straight

Milligan's 400 yard Freestyle Relay squad, including Joash Mckonie, Paxton Smith, Caleb Fry and Stephen Gilbert, earned an AAC meet record and won the title in the event for Milligan en route to their fourth AAC Championship in a row

February 9, 2025

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – On Saturday, the final day of the Appalachian Athletic Conference Swim Championships took place in Kingsport, as the Milligan men's and women's squads did more than enough to earn conference championships for the fourth straight season on bot sides.

Saturday's finals began with the women's 1650 yard Freestyle, which was dominated by Riley Renaud, who notched an NAIA automatic qualifying clip of 17:33.42 to win the AAC title. The squad also had Katelyn Williams post a second-place finish with her provisional 18:06.94 mark. Peyton Brady's 18:21.64 was also a provisional time, as she placed fourth. Kyleigh Mousty and Rosalee Wenhame came in fifth and sixth, respectively.

The men's 1650 yard Freestyle included provisional marks from four Milligan swimmers. Peter Gilbert managed a 16:16.97 to become the AAC runner-up. Morgan Roszel placed third with a 16:20.76 mark. Jacob Miller came in fifth with his 16:38.48 clip, while Shelton Harviel placed seventh with a 17:26.66.

Milligan swept the top three spots in the 200 yard Backstroke on the women's side, as Emily Haas (2:06.79), Samantha van Vuure (2:09.48) and Azaliia Gabdrakipova (2:09.96) earned the podium positions. Virginia Rainer placed eighth overall.

The men's 200 yard Backstroke included Stephen Gilbert earning a conference title on a new AAC meet record 1:48.53 time. Roszel came away wth a third-place showing of 1:55.48 to reach a provisional mark.

Women's 100 yard Freestyle competition would follow, as Liz Mahan (4^th, 54.12), Madison Akbari (5^th, 54.22) and Abigail Pauls (8^th, 55.71) all reached provisional clips.

For the men, Paxton Smith (2^nd, 45.72), Michael Rinaldi (3^rd, 45.80), Sergio Tudor (5^th, 47.91) and Riley Gregor (6^th, 48.07) reached provisional times for nationals in the 100 yard Freestyle.

Women's 200 yard Breaststroke was next on the list, as Teagan Jose was the top Milligan finisher with a time of 2:24.99. She was the lone Buffalo to reach a provisional time. Phoebe Lichty (5^th) and Rainer (6^th) also reached the final.

Robert Adam's AAC meet record in the 200 yard Breaststroke on the men's side was reached in 2:02.34. Caleb Fry (3^rd) and Jack Allen (4^th) posted 2:04.95 and 2:05.91 clips for Milligan, as well.

For the women's 200 yard Butterfly, Bitting and Emma Rae Phillips took the top two spots. Bitting won with a 2:10.08 and Phillips came in second with her 2:12.75 clip. Williams came in fourth, while Alex Hayashi placed fifth.

The men's 200 yard Butterfly saw Gellert Szedlak finish second with a 1:53.09, while Andre Bazzana placed third with his 1:53.95 cip. Tudor was th final swimmer to reach a provisional time, placing fifth in 1:57.63.

The women's 400 yard Freestyle Relay squad for Milligan came in second place, as Mahan, Akbari, Bitting and van Vuure combined for a 3:35.69.

Milligan's men took home an AAC meet record, notching a 3:02.50 in the 400 yard Freestyle Relay. Joash Mckonie, Smith, Fry and S. Gilbert teamed up to reach the impressive accolade.

Overall, the two teams earned their fourth consecutive AAC Championship titles. The women scored 928 points, beating Brenau, who finished with 668. On the men's side, MU posted 1,010 points, which was over 300 points clear of the Union Commonwealth team. Next up will be the NAIA National Championships in Elkhart, Ind. on Mar. 5-8.