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Milligan Men Place Third, Women Come in Eighth at NAIA Swimming Championships

Milligan swimming’s coaching staff looks on as the men’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay earns a second-place finish to vault the team to third place on the podium for the first time in program history
Milligan swimming’s coaching staff looks on as the men’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay earns a second-place finish to vault the team to third place on the podium for the first time in program history
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March 9, 2025

ELKHART, Ind. — The final day of the NAIA Swimming & Diving Championships in Elkhart, Ind. on Saturday resulted in the Buffaloes men and women placing third and eighth, respectively, in the final standings. It is the men's team's top finish in program history. In addition, another national runner-up individual and a runner-up relay squad helped push the men to new heights.

The events that were completed on Saturday included the 200 Yard Backstroke, the 100 Yard Freestyle, the 200 Yard Breaststroke, the 200 Yard Butterfly, the 1,650 Yard Freestyle and the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay. Preliminaries happened in the morning session and the finals took place in the evening, except in the case of the 1,650 and the relay, which only had finals in the evening session.

Samantha van Vuure began the day with a sixth-place finals finish in the women's 200 Yard Backstroke in 2:04.70, which was her season-best time and earned 13 points for the Buffaloes.

Though he did not make the A-Final, Michael Rinaldi swam the 100 Yard Freestyle in just 45.24 seconds, which is a new Milligan program record. He placed 12th overall.

Teagan Jose was able to reach the A-Final of the 200 Yard Breaststroke to earn All-American honors and clocked in at 2:23.30 to place eighth overall.  

The 200 Yard Breaststroke was an event of strength for the Buffs men, as Caleb Fry became the new Milligan record holder with a 1:59.00 mark to earn NAIA runner-up status. Robert Adam did not make the A-Final, but had a stellar swim in the B-Final, notching a personal-best 2:00.46, which would have been the fourth-fastest mark in the A-Final.

Mary Grace Bitting had a 200 Yard Butterfly final to remember, placing fourth in the nation in 2:07.41, which is a season-best clip for her. That swim was worth 15 team points.

Riley Renaud then swam the 1,650 Yard Freestyle on the women's side, and put forth a 17:23.82 clip to place in the third spot on the podium with her season-best mark.

For the men, Morgan Roszel posted a new career-best mark of 16:00.46 to place eighth in the men's 1,650 Yard Freestyle.

Milligan's men capped off their season by swimming a school-record time of 2:58.97 in the men's 400 Yard Freestyle Relay. That effort was good for the runner-up title, as the group consisting of Rinaldi, Paxton Smith, Fry and Stephen Gilbert 

The 2024-25 swimming season has now come to an end, and 16 total school records have been set in the last four days, alone. Milligan picked up their first ever national title in a relay race in the men's 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, and had a total of five runner-up efforts across individual and relay efforts. What a season it was for the Water Buffaloes.