Buffs continue indoor season at VMI Winter Relays

LEXINGTON, Va. (Jan. 29, 2021) – Freshman Alyssa Bearzi's win and top-10 NAIA mark led the way among a handful of personal bests as the Milligan University track & field team continued indoor season at Virginia Military Institute Friday.

The event marked the second meet of the season, but it came following an extended break, as the teams last competed in dominating efforts at Columbia International's Rams Winter Challenge prior to Thanksgiving.  

"This is fairly late to open up an indoor season and we saw quite a bit of rust today," Head Coach Chris Layne said, "so that's a little alarming, but I'm hopeful we have enough time to turn the corner."

Although some rust, Bearzi was not the only race winner of the day. Fellow freshman Eli Cramer highlighted the men's side with a win of the 5k in 15:19.17, running the second fastest time of his career.

Bearzi highlighted the day on the women's side with a personal best and winning time in the 5k, clocking 17:53.49. Ali Burns followed in fifth place while Camila Rivas ran a three-minute personal best in the same event. Jake Crow highlighted the men's side of the 5k with a third-place finish in 15:39.99.

Other winners included Avery DeWolf, Kiley Wood, Bekah Owen and Gabrielle Mardis, who won the women's distance medley relay, winning the event by nearly a minute and a half.

Seniors Valentina Kenjeres and Nathan Baker earned second- and sixth-place finishes in the 1k with times of 3:13.84 and 2:35.52, respectively. Matt Huff followed Baker with a personal best in 2:38.72.

"I was pleased with our 1k and 5k crew," Layne said. "I'm pretty confident Alyssa's run should be good enough to secure a top 16 spot for the national championships. Gabby had a strong run on the anchor of the DMR, but it's hard to run as fast as we needed when you're by yourself." 

In the field events, Halie Hawkins earned a 12th-place finish with a season best of 3.05 meters, ranking No. 2 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Ellie Ayers threw a personal best in the weight throw, and Blake Fauver debuted in the men's triple jump.

"Halie took a step in the vault," Layne said. "It was great to get Blake Fauver in a uniform today, and overall we just needed these reps for our technical folks." 

Up next, Milligan continues action at VMI Saturday with morning events set to take place at the VMI Winter Relays.