Men’s 4x100 record time highlights Gotta Run Invite for Outdoor Track

CENTRAL, S.C. (April 1, 2023) – The Milligan University track & field teams competed in their second outdoor weekend at the Gotta Run Invite at Southern Wesleyan on Saturday. The Buffs recorded a number of personal best and Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) qualifying marks on the day.

"Weather really played a factor today but we had a lot of folks step up and take advantage of their opportunities," said head coach Chris Layne. "The men's 4x1 got us started, Isabelle Johnson had a huge breakthrough at 1500 and Dawson Reed got a really convincing win the 3k."

The Buffs' men's 4x100-meter relay unit of Kamdyn Lee, Keith Fletcher, Ja'Quan Williams and Skylan Stephens set a Milligan record with a time of 42.05 and finished second overall. Fletcher and Lee both notched PBs and AAC marks in the 100-meter dash. Fletcher ran 11.04 and Lee finished in 11.17.

Josh Hale, Dillon Craig and Sam Kyker each notched PBs and hit the AAC standard in the 5k. Hale was the meet runner-up in 15:59.03. Craig was fourth in 16:02.31 and Kyker finished seventh in 16:22.98.

Isabelle Johnson led a group of conference qualifiers and personal-bests with a 5:08.98 in the 1500 to finish fourth. Kaelyn Slaughter crossed fifth in 5:09.38, Patricia Barrera placed seventh (5:11.05) and Natalie Fellers was ninth in 5:11.69.

Alex Haggard (4:10.37) and Keaton Hincher (4:15.66) ran AAC marks with personal best efforts in the men's 1500. Haggard finished fifth and Hincher placed ninth.

Rebecca Glover posted a personal best and AAC qualifying time in 400 in 1:01.40. Megan Christian was an AAC qualifier in the 800 with a time of 2:28.69.

The Buffs posted first-place finishes in the men's and women's 3k. Dawson Reed won the men's race in 8:51.66. Fellers won the women's race in 11:18.13. Barrera finished fourth in 11:39.11, Annie Kate McDermott was fifth in 11:42.65 and Gracie Pendleton placed eighth in 11:50.76.

Milligan's men's 4x400-meter relay group of Stephens, Aaron Vaughn, Jeremy Evans and Williams finished second in 3:23.08.