Woodall and Bearzi run national No. 1 times on first day of Lee Flames Invitational

CLEVELAND, Tenn. (April 7, 2023) – The Milligan University outdoor track & field teams lit turned had five national qualifying performances, three NAIA "A" standards, two national No. 1 marks and a school record on the first day of the Lee Flames Invitational on Friday.

"A great day to be a Buff!" said head coach Chris Layne. "Our sprint crew got us started with really good runs in the 200 and it continued from there. It's really important to have so many of our folks in these big distances races tonight and they obviously took advantage of it. Great to notch another set of PB's and extremely proud of how we competed late in those 5's and 10's."

Bryn Woodall took the meet title, ran the NAIA's No. 1 national time and set Milligan's school record in the 5k with a 14:00.11 effort. He topped a field of 117 runners that included runners from Georgia Tech, Belmont, Wingate and Lee by almost six seconds. Woodall entered the final lap leading Lee's Aaron Himes by 0.205 seconds and ran away from the field with a 58.882 final 400 meters, the fastest closing lap of the top heat by nearly four seconds.

Alyssa Bearzi posted the NAIA's top time in the women's 10k as she ran 35:39.90. In a field of 47 runners from NCAA Division I, II and III, Bearzi finished fifth in the top heat on Friday evening.

In her outdoor 5k debut Ellen Mary Kearney hit the NAIA's automatic national qualifying standard with a personal best time of 17:11.12, the top time in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. She ran in the top heat of the event and finished sixth overall. Gracie Allen appeared in the second-fastest heat and ran 18:08.95, an AAC mark.

Caitlin Dominy ran in the top heat of the women's 1500 and finished 10th overall with a national qualifying time of 4:39.40.

Dawson Reed capped the day with a national qualifying time of 31:21.86 in the men's 10k.

Will Stockley (3:56.38), Sylas Chambers (4:03.36) and Alex Haggard (4:10.50) met the AAC standard in the 1500. Jake Crow (14:56.20) and Zimri Kuhn (15:21.92) hit conference standards in the 5k.

Skylan Stephens a group of four Buffs who hit the AAC standard in the 200. Stephens ran a personal best time of 22.03. Keith Fletcher also notched a PB in 22.15, as did Kamdyn Lee (22.42) and Ja'Quan Williams (22.67).

Megan Christian posted a personal best time and AAC qualifying mark of 26.82 in the 200.

Conner Mowell reached the conference qualifying height in the high jump at 1.75 meters. Autumn Stanley reached the AAC standard in the triple jump with a collegiate best 9.84 meters.

Anna Jones ran a personal best 18:41.55 in the 5k. Ashlyn Haas joined Jones with an AAC qualifying time of 19:18.12.

Corey Greeson logged an AAC qualifying distance in the discus (37.98 meters).

The Buffs wrap up at the Lee Flames Invitational tomorrow.