Indoor Track claims seven AAC titles and sets four championship records on day one of AAC Championships

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (February 17, 2022) – The Milligan University indoor track & field teams opened the 2021-22 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Indoor Championships with seven conference titles on Thursday at the JDL Fast Track. The Buffs met seven NAIA "A" standards and four AAC Championship records along the way.

"Honestly, we couldn't have scripted a better day one," said head coach Chris Layne. "I'm really proud of both teams and this staff. We opted out of our last regular season meet and it's great to see them respond the way they did today. This definitely sets the tone for day two."

Milligan's swept the top three finishers in the women's 1k as Avery DeWolf Burton repeated as the AAC Champion in the 1k with an AAC Championship-record 3:00.58. Her time is a personal record, converts to an NAIA "A" standard and top-five nationally. Caitlin Dominy was the runner-up with a career best and national qualifying time of 3:01.96. Gracie Allen logged a personal best of 3:02.44 to finish third with a converted national qualifying time. Rebecca Glover joined in with a PB of 3:12.68 to finish seventh.

Will Stockley claimed gold in the men's 1k with a personal best time of 2:29.35, an NAIA "A" standard before conversion. Jake Crow finished fourth in 2:34.74, Mikel Valladares was seventh in 2:36.69 and Samir Koko placed ninth in 2:39.54 as each runner recorded a PR in event.

Skylan Stephens took the AAC championship in the men's 400 with a 50.73 effort.

Alyssa Bearzi captured the AAC 5k title and smashed the NAIA "A" standard with an indoor collegiate-best time of 17:32.32. Ali Burns logged a fourth-place finish in the 5k for the second consecutive year in 19:17.30.

Aaron Jones was first, Eli Cramer was second and Alex Mortimer was fourth in the men's 5k. All three runners bested the previous AAC Championship record. Jones improved upon his converted school record with a 14:44.68 mark and Cramer ran 14:51.25 as both sophomores made the NAIA "A" standard. Mortimer ran a PB of 15:15.73 that converts to a national standard. Evan Henson also had a top-eight showing as he finished sixth in 15:22.31.

Milligan's women's distance medley relay hit the NAIA "A" standard, set the AAC Championship record and took home gold as Dominy, Megan Christian, Allen and Burton combined to run 12:19.09. The quartet's converted time ranks among the top 10 nationally.

The men's distance medley relay also achieved a converted NAIA "A" standard and championship record to claimed AAC gold. The unit of Bryn Woodall, Sylas Chambers, Alex Windham and Stockley recorded a winning time of 10:16.10.

In the weight throw, Milligan had two men score as Corey Greeson took fifth with a heave of 13.09 meters and Kade Hoilman finished eighth at 12.40 meters. Ellie Ayers was 12th in the women's weight throw with a long of 10.81 meters.

Through one day of competition, Milligan's men are in first place of 10 teams with a team score of 68. The Buffs' women's team is in third place with a team score of 51 points, just one behind second-place Brenau.

Day two of the AAC Championships wraps up tomorrow.