Thacker, Baker national champions

YANKTON, S.D. (March 6, 2021) – Tim Thacker won the national title in the mile, Nathan Baker won the national title in the 3k, Jake Crow earned all-American in the 3k at eighth, the Milligan University men's distance medley relay team took an all-American spot at fourth, and the Buffaloes ran to an eighth-place team finish at the 2021 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships Saturday.

Thacker became Milligan's 15th individual national champion and 10th out of Head Coach Chris Layne's track & field program. Shortly thereafter, Baker reclaimed the national title in the 3k to become Milligan's 16th individual national champion and 11th in track & field. Baker also became a two-time individual national champion, the fourth multitime national champion in Milligan history.

"This will easily be one of those national championships that stands out for an extremely long time," said Layne. "This has been a challenging year for everyone, and to see these young men and young women rise to the occasion, exceed expectations and represent Milligan the way they did makes this one extremely special."

Championship Saturday all about national champions

Thacker, running in his third straight mile final, came into the race as the nation's runner-up each of the last two years but would not be denied his senior year. The race started slow, but a strong finish saw Thacker make his move past the rest of the pack over the last 400 meters. His winning time was 4:12.25, enough to win by over three seconds.

Baker previously won the 3k national title at the 2018 national championships, out-kicking the field over the last 100 meters. Saturday was no different, as Baker sat fourth most of the race before moving to third in the final lap and ultimately out-kicking the front two over the last 100 meters. Baker's time of 8:35.74 earned him the win by 0.2 seconds.

"Tim and Nathan had a lot of confidence coming into this weekend," Layne said. "These two can kick with anyone so when these races started out tactical, the plan was to just stay patient, be calculated when moving through the field, and they had the green light to move when they felt ready. These were really special wins for both. Tim has been so close in the past and then it was great to see Nathan back on top after winning as a freshman."

Buffs post multiple all-American efforts

Crow came in eighth in the same event as Baker with a time of 8:49.60. It marked the first all-American finish for the sophomore, and he, too, did much climbing up the field over the latter portion of the race.

Milligan's distance medley relay crew finished the day with the national champion duo opening and closing the race. Baker ran the opening 1200 meters and Thacker ran the final mile leg. Ethan Pfister and Sam Wehner ran the two middle legs, all in helping the Buffs earn an all-American spot at fourth. Their time of 10:11.62 missed third by 0.6 seconds and the runner-up spot by less than two seconds.

This matched last year's finish which also saw the Buffs finish fourth nationally in the DMR in 2020.

Moving forward

With indoor season wrapped up, the Buffaloes next will turn their attention to outdoor season, set to start Friday-Saturday, March 19-20, at the CIU Rams Invitational.

Eight All-Americans

Tim Thacker – Mile, DMR
Nathan Baker – 3k, DMR
Jake Crow – 3k
Ethan Pfister – DMR
Sam Wehner – DMR
Austin Walker – DMR