Season Preview: 2021-22 Men’s Indoor Track & Field

MILLIGAN UNIVERSITY, Tenn. (January 13, 2022) – The Milligan University men's indoor track & field squad looks continue its momentum after two Buffs won individual NAIA national championships last winter. Milligan opens the 2022 calendar year at the ETSU Track & Field Invitational this weekend.

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2020-21 Season Review: The Milligan men's indoor track & field team turned in a historic 2020-21 season that culminated with two individual NAIA national championships and an eighth-place finish at the NAIA National Championships.

Senior Nathan Baker claimed the NAIA national championship in the 3k for the second time in his career and 2021 graduate Tim Thacker captured the national title in the mile. The Buffs added All-America performances in the 3k and Distance Medley Relay.

"To place both programs in the top ten at indoor nationals was pretty special," said head coach Chris Layne. "Obviously, we relied heavily on our quality and our student-athletes delivered on the day - that's not always easy to do. The NAIA is so good at the championship level and we certainly won't take those performances for granted moving forward."

Milligan finished second at the 2020-21 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships. Thacker was named the AAC's Co-Most Valuable Track Athlete and repeated as the USTFCCCA's South Region Athlete of the Year. The Buffs won relay titles in the 4x800 and DMR with meet-record times.

Key Returners: The Buffs' 2021-22 indoor track & field team enters the winter season with momentum after claiming the NAIA national championship in the cross country in November.

"We're obviously seeing some unprecedented depth, talent, whatever you want to call it," said Layne. "Man, these guys are just a ton of fun to be around and they just have an energy about them that I've never seen before - it's been really contagious and I think folks are picking up on that."

Baker headlines Milligan's returners on the track as a two-time NAIA national champion in the 3k. He posted a career best 8:29.70 to win gold in 2018 and ran 8:35.74 to win the national championship by two tenths of a second last year. At last year's AAC Indoor Championships, Baker was the runner-up in the 1k (2:31.54), mile (4:19.47) and 3k (8:33.44).

"I just can't imagine not having Baker around," said Layne. "Not only has he been a great ambassador for us on the track, he's been a joy to watch develop as a young man. He has navigated a really tough academic program and then to see him come out the other side ready to take on the world."

Joining Baker as a returning individual indoor All-American is junior Jake Crow. Crow took eighth at the NAIA National Championships in the 3k in 8:49.60. He finished fourth in the 3k with a personal best of 8:39.71 at the AAC Indoor Championships.

Sophomore Aaron Jones only appeared in one indoor meet last season but ranked 26th on the NAIA's 5k leaderboard (14:53.53) last year. In the opening meet of 2021-22, Jones set Milligan's indoor 5k record with a converted 14:37.04, hitting the NAIA "A" qualifying standard and ranking top-five nationally.

"Aaron is competitor," said Layne. "He loves this sport and he wants to do everything he can to get the most out of himself. He's played a huge role in strengthening the foundation of this men's culture just by how he operates."

Sophomore Eli Cramer posted national top-40 marks in the 3k and 5k in his debut season for the Buffs. He finished third in the 3k (8:36.91) at the AAC Indoor Championships and appeared in the 3k prelims at the NAIA National Championships. He already surpassed his top 5k time last season with a converted 14:38.22 in Milligan's opening weekend of 2021-22.

"Seeing the look on Eli's face at cross nationals after they won says it all," said Layne. "He has just committed to this thing fully and continues to take these crazy steps that, quite honestly, he nor I thought he would be taking this quickly. He's a savvy racer, he's not afraid to go to the front and that's not always something you see out of your freshmen and sophomores."

Milligan posted a top-four finish nationally in the DMR for the second-straight season as Baker, Ethan Pfister, Sam Wehner and Thacker ran 10:11.62 to finish fourth and claim All-America status. At the AAC Championships, Wehner, Auster Walker, Pfister and Thacker combined to capture the AAC title and set the conference championship record of 10:20.47. Pfister, Walker, Luke Avery and Matt Huff combined to win the 4x800 relay championship in 8:11.15, another AAC championship record.

"I always look back at the end of the year and say 'I wish we would've done even more with our relays,'" said Layne. "It's such a great way to bring our athletes together, create that team environment within an individual sport, and I know our team enjoys that element. I know I enjoy the puzzle of putting these together while trying to balance individual performances along with getting some of our crew to nationals when they might not be ready to do it individually."

Graduate student Alex Mortimer was the runner-up in the 5k at the AAC Championships (15:45.83) and finished seventh in the 3k (8:56.17). Senior Pablo Rivas logged a pair of sixth-place showings and indoor bests at the AAC Indoor Championships in the mile (4:29.80) and 3k (8:55.15).

In addition to being a member of both Buffs' conference championship relays units, Pfister took fourth in the 800 (2:01.17) at the AAC Indoor Championships. Huff ran on the Buffs' 4x800 relay and added top-eight finishes in the 800 (2:04.27) and 1k (2:38.00).

Junior Skylan Stephens had three top-seven finishes in at the 2020-21 AAC Indoor Championships as he took fourth in the 400 (50.82), sixth in the 200 (23.18) and seventh in the 60 (7.20). In the opening meet of the season, Stephens set a PB in the 200 (22.84) at Milligan's opening event in December.

Sophomore Keither Fletcher finished fourth in the 60 meter hurdles in 9.16 at the AAC Indoor Championships.

Sophomore Blake Fauver was eighth in the triple jump, sophomore Austin Walker was eighth in the 200, sophomore Kade Hoilman was ninth in the shot put, sophomore Kamdyn Lee was ninth in the 200 and 60 prelims and senior Eli Baldy was 10th in the 3k and 5k at the AAC Indoor Championships.

"To date, our 'track crew' has really been the difference maker at the conference level," said Layne. "This is an area we need to continue developing so we can say the same thing about them at the national level. If we're going to climb out of the top ten and into the top three, top five nationally, we're going to have to score points in the sprints, jumps, hurdles and throws. There no doubt about it."

Newcomers: Graduate student Will Stockley and freshman Bryn Woodall both made a splash during the Buffs' championship-winning cross country season. Stockley collected NAIA All-America honors with a 27th-place finish at the NAIA National Championships and Woodall was Milligan's sixth finisher at the NAIA National Championships and earned a spot on the All-AAC First Team during the cross country season.

In the Buffs' opening weekend in December, Stockley logged an NAIA "A" qualifying time in the 3k and a national qualifying mark in the mile. Woodall joined with an "A" qualifying time in the 5k.

"I think two guys flying under the radar in cross country that will really emerge on the track are Will and Bryn," said Layne. "Both of these guys have already knocked out really competitive national marks and they'll be key to our success in March."

Freshman sprinter Nicolas Motau joins the group in 2022 from South Africa.

"I talked about it earlier, but the more depth we develop on the track side, the better we're going to be as a team," said Layne. "We hope Nicolas is going to be able to do that for us and he'll join a group of men that are on the move with Sky, JaQuan, Keith and so on. We've got some momentum on the track side, we just need more of it."

Alex Brittain (Distances), Knoxville, TN/Hardin Valley
Sylas Chambers (Distances), Greeley, CO/Frontier Academy
Corey Greeson (Throws), Murfreesboro, TN/Central Magnet
Eli Hornbuckle (Distances), Roebuck, SC/ Homeschooled
Zimri Kuhn (Distances), Knoxville, TN/Homeschooled
Sam Kyker (Distances), Travelers Rest, SC/ Travelers Rest HS
Benjamin Mary (Distances), Maryville, TN/ Heritage HS
Nicolas Motau (Sprints), South Africa, Pepps Polokwane Preparatory School & College
Craig Newman (Distances), Elizabethton, TN/Elizabethton HS
Josh Osorio (Distances), High Point, NC/Ragsdale HS
Will Owen (Distances), Johnson City, TN/University School/ETSU
Jack Parmer (Distances), Lascassas, TN/Oakland HS
Sam Sosebee (Distances), Dayton, TN/Rhea Co. HS
Evan Spaulding (Distances), Christiansburg, VA/Christiansburg HS
Will Stockley (Distances), Twickenham, United Kingdom/St. Mary's University
Bryn Woodall (Distances), Conwy, Wales/Llandrillo College
Timothy Wright (Distances), Hardy, AR/Springdale HS

Looking at the Schedule: Milligan opened its 2021-22 indoor track & field season the first weekend in December at the Appalachian State Invitational and Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off the at JDL Fast Track.

The Buffs have five regular season meets scheduled in January and February prior to the 2021-22 AAC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Feb. 17-18 at the JDL Fast Track.

The 42nd annual NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships are set for March 3-5 at Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D.

"We set a pretty standard schedule indoors and there is enough flexibility that we can make changes along the way," said Layne. "Everything we do serves a purpose and for each student-athlete that purpose might be a little different. Covid has certainly challenged us and our schedule and I'm really proud of how our crew have responded the last few years."

Last Word: "To really frame things up is to really say the focus has to remain on develop each of our kids individually and then where we come together from a team perspective is where we'll be," said Layne. "We've always taken this philosophy. Last year we weren't necessarily talking team, team, team, it was more about if each individual is able to maximize who they are, then we'll be happy if we're 3rd or 23rd."