Jones earns All-America honors in 10k; Buffs break two school records on opening day of NAIA National Championships

MARION, Ind. (May 24, 2023) – The Milligan University outdoor track & field teams set a pair of school records and saw Aaron Jones earn All-American honors on the opening day of the 2023 NAIA National Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Indiana Wesleyan.

"Championship environments peel back a lot of layers and I'm proud of how all of our crew stepped up and performed," said head coach Chris Layne.

Jones earned All-American honors in the men's 10k with a third-place national finish with a school record time of 30:22.15. He collects All-America laurels in the sixth-straight NAIA National Championship and completes an All-America triple crown (cross country, indoor track and outdoor track) for the second-straight year. Jones earned top-four national finishes in cross country, indoor and outdoor track this year and was the NAIA indoor 5k national champion.

"Tactically just a perfect race from Aaron and you're just dealing with a lot of great athletes at this level," said Layne.

The Buffs set a school record and earned a spot in tomorrow's 4x800-meter relay final. Bryn Woodall, Will Stockley, Carter Windham and Sylas Chambers improved upon Milligan's previous school record by over three seconds with a time of 7:37.10. The Buffs were fourth among the nine relay units to advance to the event final.

"Really proud of our men's 4x8 and their performance as well," said Layne. "Those guys really stepped up for one another."

Ellen Mary Kearney advanced to Friday's finals in the 1500 with a 4:38.92 effort, good for fourth in the first heat and sixth overall.

In the women's 10k final Alyssa Bearzi narrowly missed All-America status as she finished 11th in 37:19.81.

"I'm really bummed for Alyssa who picked up an illness coming in so I know she'd like to have that one back when feeling 100 percent," said Layne. "But that's part of this game and she fought her tail off late."

The Buffs finished 13th in the women's 4x800 relay. Gracie Allen, Kearney, Megan Christian and Caitlin Dominy ran to a 9:24.07 time.

Dawson Reed placed 18th in the 10k in 31:34.31.

The Buffs continue tomorrow with prelims in the 110 hurdles, 800 and 5k as well as the men's 4x800 final.