Milligan caps off successful ETSU Track & Field Invite to open 2022

Johnson City, Tenn. (January 15, 2022) — The Milligan University men's and women's track and field teams rounded out the 2022 ETSU Track and Field Invitational with four Buffalo athletes turning in NAIA qualifying times. Additionally, 32 personal bests were registered over the two-day event for Milligan which marked an outstanding outing in just the second meet of the indoor season.   

"I'm really proud of how both teams responded coming back on day two. We've already seen a lot of our crew take steps from where they were this time last year," said head coach Chris Layne. "Avery and Gracie picked up big wins today and it was great to see our men run well in the 3k. I also thought our results in the sprints, jumps and throws side were really positive with a number of PB's and folks reaching finals."

In the men's 3k, the Buffs placed five runners inside the top ten. Aaron Jones, who won the event, turned in a time of 8:35.78. In second place, Bryn Woodall registered a time of 8:36.16. Both Jones' and Woodall's times were national qualifying and personal bests. Eli Cramer finished in third place with a time of 8:40.78. Finishing fifth and sixth in the 3k, Alex Mortimer and Pablo Rivas recorded times of 8:44.23 and 8:45.69 which were both PBs.  

In the men's 800 meters, five Buffalo runners finished with times inside the top ten. Will Stockley led Milligan with a national qualifying mark of 1:55.01 and placed third overall out of 30 runners. Finishing just behind Stockley, Sylas Chambers (1:55.62) recorded a personal best in the 800 and Nathan Baker (1:55.71) just missed the national qualifying mark as the duo placed fourth and fifth respectively. Samir Koko (9th) and Jake Crow (10th) rounded out the top ten with times of 2:01.38 and 2:01.63. Koko's time was a PB.  

In the women's 800 meters, Gracie Allen won the event with a time of 2:21.70, which was two seconds faster than the second-place time. Kaelyn Slaughter placed 13th in the 800m with a time of 2:34.62. Overall, 28 runners competed in the event with Allen and Slaughter each finishing inside the top half.   

In the women's 3k, Avery DeWolf Burton won the event with a national qualifying time of 10:11.67. Three Buffalo runners finished with personal bests in the 3k including Caitlin Dominy (10:35.89) who placed third, Lauren Spry (11:36.31) who placed 17th, and Natalie Fellers (11:45.40) who placed 18th.   

In the women's shot put, Ellie Ayers recorded a personal best 10.03m throw which led to a 9th place finish and a finals appearance. In 15th place, Joy Reks registered a throw of 9.13m.

In the women's long jump, Jemimah Ndune set a new personal best logging a 4.96m jump which placed her 12th overall.   

In the men's 200 meters, Skylan Stephens finished in 17th place with a time of 22.98. Kamdyn Lee (23.17) finished in 24th place in addition to a PB. Keith Fletcher (23.54) and Connor Goodrich (24.69) also registered personal bests in the 200 placing 34th and 50th overall.   

In the men's long jump, Lee finished in seventh place with a 6.41m jump. Finishing in 16th place, Blake Fauver recorded a jump of 5.33m.   

In the women's 200 meters, Kiley Wood (27.82) and Megan Christian (27.97) finished 32nd and 33rd overall.   

Milligan indoor track & field continues its season next weekend at the Finn Picus Invitational in Roanoke, Va.