Milligan Men's and Women's Swimming Extend Advantages on Friday at AAC Swim Championships
KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) swim championships continued on Friday inside the Kingsport Aquatic Center. Following the second-to-last day of competition, the two Milligan squads have separated themselves from the pack with a stellar set of performances.
The evening session's finals began with the women's 200 yard Freestyle Relay, where the Milligan group of Madison Akbari, Liz Mahan, Mary Grace Bitting and Samantha van Vuure placed took the conference title with a time of 1:37.86.
For the men, Paxton Smith, Caleb Fry, Michael Rinaldi and Stephen Gilbert combined to set a new AAC meet record, clocking in at 1:21.67 in the 200 yard Freestyle Relay.
The women's 400 yard Individual Medley was next, as three Buffs were in the final. Emma Rae Phillips placed third, while Peyton Brady and Bitting came in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Milligan's men had Nate Halloran (4th), Peter Gilbert (5th), Jack Allen (6th) and Michael Cellucci (8th) finish in the final for the men's 400 yard Individual Medley.
A women's 100 yard Butterfly champion was crowned for Milligan, as Akbari stood atop the podium with her 58.18 clip. Suzy Aguirre came in as the runner-up, clocking in at 58.73, while Alex Hayashi finished sixth.
Boasting places two through six in the men's 100 yard Butterfly, Milligan saw Joash Mckonie grab second in 49.36. Rinaldi placed third, while Sergio Tudor, RJ Brumit, and Andre Bazzana made up the other four spots, in order.
Women's 200 yard Freestyle was next on the list, as Riley Renaud came away with the conference title in 1:55.05. In addition, Mahan came in third with a 1:58.41, which was a provisional standard for nationals. Kyleigh Mousty finished sixth for the Buffs.
The Buffaloes' men had the top four finishers in their 200 yard Freestyle. Szedlak came away with a 1:42.47 clip to win the AAC title. Bazzana placed second, while Jacob Miller ended up third and Shelton Harviel touched the wall in fourth.
Teagan Jose notched a third-place finish in the women's 100 yard Breaststroke, coming away with a 1:08.58 mark to reach provisional qualifying status. Abigail Pauls came in fourth, while Virginia Rainer placed fifth, Phoebe Lichty came in sixth and Hayashi was eighth.
Milligan saw their men sweep the podium in the 100 yard Breaststroke, as Fry won with a meet record 55.35 clip. Robert Adam came in just behind him in second at 55.98. Riley Gregor rounded out the podium for the Buffaloes, reaching a provisional mark at 57.51 seconds.
In the women's 100 yard Backstroke van Vuure came away with second place and a 59.74 clip. Emily Haas finished with a 1:00.11 and Azaliia Gabdrakipova posted a 1:00.19, which were both provisional qualifying marks.
For the men, the 100 yard Backstroke was another AAC meet record for the Buffs. Mckonie's 49.65 set the new record, as Smith also placed second with a 50.81. S. Gilbert's 51.24 and Brumit's 54.03 were also provisional national times.
The Milligan women's 400 yard Medley Relay included van Vuure, Jose, Aguirre and Akbari, as they placed third with a time of 3:59.80.
On the men's side, set their final meet record of the day in the 400 yard Medley Relay, as Smith, Fry, Mckonie and S. Gilbert teamed up to post a 3:22.95 to win the title and set a new record.
Saturday will be the final day of competition at the AAC Championships, as Milligan's men and women both sit in prime position to earn triumphs. The action begins in the morning session at 9 a.m. inside the Kingsport Aquatic Center.