Swimming claims 11 more AAC titles on day two of AAC Championships

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (February 11, 2022) – The Milligan University swim teams earned 11 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) championships on day two of the AAC Championships at the Kingsport Aquatic Center on Friday evening.

Milligan's No. 5 men's team leads the AAC Championships with 649 points through two days of action. WVU Tech sits in second place at 336 points. The No. 6-ranked Milligan women's swim team leads with 533 points, followed by Brenau at 359 points.

Milligan swept the 200 freestyle relays with NAIA "A" cuts to open the day two finals. Milligan's grouping of Tyler Cates, Liz Mahan, Maggie Blazo and Gabby MacPherson claimed Milligan's third relay gold in 1:39.45. Milligan's men's unit of Cole Brusher, Wiktor Perkowski, Andre Bazzana and Stephen Gilbert added a first-place finish in 1:25.01.

The Buffs went one-two-three in the women's 400 yard individual medley. Emma Rae Phillips earned AAC Champion status in 4:41.11. Bre Coley took silver in 4:57.63 and Mackenzie LaFrance was third in 5:14.85. Phillips and Coley's times hit the NAIA national standard.

Gilbert captured his second individual title of 2022 in the 400 IM in 4:04.01, an NAIA provisional time. Duncan Arnold was third in 4:25.03.

In the 100 fly, Rachel Scheffer took second (59.23) and Suzy Aguirre (1:00.51) finished third with NAIA provisional times.

Perkowski took the AAC title in the 100 fly in 49.95. Cole Brusher took silver in 50.97 and Ethan McCosh claimed bronze in 51.27. All three swimmers secured NAIA provisional marks.

The Buffs had the top three finishers with three NAIA provisional swims in the women's 200 free. Blazo took first in 1:55.53, Mahan was second in 1:56.64 and Cates claimed bronze in 1:57.53.

Bazzana set an AAC Championship record for the second-straight day as he recorded a 1:40.73 to win the 200 free.

Kaylee Williams won the AAC title in the 100 breast in 1:06.01, followed by Bre Coley in second in 1:08.76 and Mirella Rutigliano in third (1:11.16).

The Buffs took silver and bronze with provisional times in the men's 100 breast as Aubin Dulin finished second in 58.09 and Ben Hawkins was third (58.81).

Cates won the 100 backstroke title for the second-straight season in 57.97, just missing her AAC Championship record set last winter.

Perkowski added another gold medal on the day with a 51.26 to finish first in the 100 back. McCosh logged an NAIA provisional mark to take third in 52.25.

An early entry for the Buffs in the women's 400 medley relay resulted in a disqualification, negating what would have been an AAC Championship record time.

Milligan's men's 400 medley relay closed the evening with an AAC Championship record and NAIA "A" cut. Perkowski, Dulin, Bazzana and Gilbert swam 3:25.28 to pick up the Buffs' 11th title of the day.

"We had a couple of challenging swims this morning, but our team bounced back well and positioned us for a great final day," said head coach Spencer Scarth.

The AAC Championships wrap up tomorrow.