Kearney notches another NAIA-leading mark at Montreat Invite

MONTREAT, N.C. (March 26, 2021) – Emily Kearney ran the nation's fastest 10k while a handful of other distance runners posted personal bests as the Milligan University track & field team continued the season at the Montreat College Invitational on Friday.

Kearney's 33:09 10k marked her third NAIA-leading time already this year as she previously nabbed the top marks in the 5k and 1500 at last week's Rams College Invitational. Her 10k this week clocked a new lifetime best and Milligan record.

Several other Buffaloes ran well in the 10k, including Bekah Owen who debuted with a 37:19 to run the national A standard, and a herd of Buffaloes who went 1-2-3-4 on the men's side. Nathan Baker led that pack in 30:39, the first of three national standards with Aaron Jones and Eli Cramer also making the mark.

Kaelyn Slaughter and Samir Koko finished their events much earlier in the day and with much of the same success. Slaughter ran a 5:22 1500m to chip six seconds off her time from one week ago, and Koko took another step with a new lifetime best of 4:11, a four-second improvement on his previous best.

"We had a number of strong performances today and tonight, and now this group will really focus on getting rested up and ready for the cross country national championships," Head Coach Chris Layne said. "Emily, Bekah, Nathan and the boys were fantastic in these 10k's and that should really give them confidence moving forward with cross country, but it's a unique year as we have the large majority of this team right in the middle of an outdoor season."

Milligan will compete back at Montreat on day two, set to start Saturday morning at 8 a.m.