Outdoor Track claims seven AAC titles on opening day of AAC Championships

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (April 21, 2023) – The Milligan University outdoor track & field teams won seven Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) titles and set three meet records and two program records on the first day of the AAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday.

Through the first day of competition, the Buffs sit second in the men's team standings with 87 points. Milligan's women are third with a team score of 67.

"A really good day across the board," said head coach Chris Layne. "It's always our goal to find a balance between quality performances and being competitive as teams and we accomplished that."

Will Stockley, Sylas Chambers, Carter Windham and Bryn Woodall set Milligan and AAC records on their way to the conference title in the 4x800-meter relay. The Buffs clocked in at 7:41.61, an NAIA "A" standard and the No. 1 time in the nation.

Milligan's women's 4x800 relay also set an AAC championship record and hit the NAIA's automatic standard. Rebecca Glover, Caitlin Dominy, Gracie Allen and Ellen Mary Kearney go the baton to the finish line in 9:20.43, the third-fastest time in the nation this year.

Keith Fletcher took home the AAC title in the men's 110-meter hurdles with an NAIA "A" standard time and personal best mark of 14.53.

Aaron Jones repeated as the AAC champion in the 10k with a Milligan and AAC Championship record time of 30:26.79. His time meets the automatic national standard and is the fourth-fastest mark in the NAIA this year. Dawson Reed finished fifth in the 10k in 32:29.19.

Kearney took gold in the 1500 with a time of 4:39.29, an NAIA national qualifying time. Dominy finished second at 4:40.68, a full six seconds ahead of the third-place finisher. Allen scored with a seventh-place showing in 4:49.86. Isabelle Johnson ran 4:59.50, a personal best, to place ninth.

Alyssa Bearzi won the women's 10k in 40:01.93. Annie Kate McDermott placed fourth (41:01.81) and Gracie Pendleton was fifth in 41:47.52 as both made their event debuts in the championship meet.

The Buffs had four men score in the 1500. Stockley finished third in 3:55.68, followed by Jake Crow in fourth (3:58.66). Woodall ran 4:00.13 to finish seventh and Arran Kearney finished in 4:00.42 to place eighth.

Halie Higgins-Hawkins claimed the AAC championship in the pole vault as the only competitor to clear 2.95 meters.

Skylan Stephens ran to an AAC runner-up finish in the 400 meter dash. Stephen ran 48.43, narrowly missing the national standard by 0.03 seconds. Ja'Quan Williams was fourth (49.25) and Aaron Vaughn was eighth (49.93) as both runners logged PBs.

Milligan notched a pair of top-five finishers in the javelin as Corey Greeson was the conference runner-up with a PB of 48.32 meters in his penultimate attempt. Joel Duzan logged a fifth-place finish at 44.72 meters in his AAC Championships debut. Greeson also went on to post a PB to take fourth in the hammer throw at 44.46 meters in his final attempt.

Megan Christian (1:00.77) and Glover (1:00.88) posted personal best times in the 400 as Chrsitian finished fourth and Glover was sixth.

The Buffs' men's 4x100-meter relay unit of Kamdyn Lee, Fletcher, Williams and Stephens placed sixth in 42.30.

"If I'm not mistaken, we add a number of AAC records," said Layne. "Obviously picked up a bunch of wins and every time you turned around, our athletes were recording personal bests."

The AAC Championships conclude tomorrow.