No. 2 Men’s Swimming and No. 4 Women’s Swimming wrap up successful Fall Frenzy Invitational

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (November 21, 2021) – Milligan University's swim teams wrapped up an exceptional weekend of swimming at the Buffs' midseason meet, the Fall Frenzy Invitational in Charlotte. The Buffs racked up four NAIA "A" cuts, six school records and eight NAIA provisional times on Sunday.

Milligan continued to smash school relay records on Sunday with NAIA "A" cuts in the men's and women's 400-yard freestyle relays. Andre Bazzana, Ben Hawkins, Wiktor Perkowski and Stephen Gilbert swam the No. 1 400 free relay time in the NAIA at 3:06.33. Maggie Blazo, Emma Rae Phillips, Liz Mahan and Gabby MacPherson established the women's record in 3:36.29. Blazo led off the relay with a team record in the 100 free (53.66).

Gilbert recorded Milligan's best individual finish at the Fall Frenzy with a runner-up showing in the championship final of the 200 backstroke in 1:47.99, a school record and No. 1 time in the NAIA this season thus far.

Cates posted the No. 2 200 backstroke time in the NAIA this year with in 2:04.08, an NAIA "A" cut and school record.

MacPherson recorded the top time 1650 freestyle in the nation at 17:48.68. Emma Rae Phillips posted the No. 7 time in the nation in the 1650 free with a provisional time of 18:39.63. On the men's side, Hawkins grabbed the top-five spot in the NAIA in the 1650 free with a provisional time of 16:47.64.

Bazzana swam to a school record in the championship final of the 200 fly with an NAIA provisional mark of 1:52.27. Ethan McCosh joined Bazzana with a provisional time in the 200 fly in 1:56.36. Bazzana's time ranked No. 3 in the NAIA and McCosh notched the eight-best time in the nation this year.

Kaylee Williams and Aubin Dulin both secured top-five times in the NAIA in the 200 breast with season-best and provisional times. Williams swam a 2:25.48 and Dulin clocked in at 2:06.44.

Mahan swam a provisional time and season best in the 100 free at 54.35.

Milligan's No. 2 men and No. 4 women went head-to-head with some of the best teams in NCAA Division II and Division I opponents UNC-Asheville, James Madison and Gardner-Webb. The Buffs finished fifth out of seven on the men's side and sixth out of 10 for the women.

"Really proud of our efforts against some high-power teams," said head coach Spencer Scarth. "Queens, Wingate and Emmanuel are regularly up at the top end of D2, and UNC Asheville, James Madison, and Gardner Webb are all very strong D1 programs, but both teams held their own and swam out of their minds for this point in the season. We benefited a lot from racing up and just being able to watch the talent level was a benefit by itself. We're ready to get back to work and refocus for our end goals."

Milligan swimming concludes its fall schedule. The Buffs return to competition Jan. 14 against King.