Outdoor Track & Field wins four titles on final day of AAC Championships

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (April 22, 2023) – The Milligan University outdoor track & field team won four Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) titles on the final day of the AAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday.

The Buffs finished as the team runner-up in the men's standings with 169 points. Milligan's women were third with a combined team score of 131.

"The bar just continues to raise in the AAC and I'm really happy with how both programs finished today," said head coach Chris Layne. "This was where we wanted to be and we were probably a little closer to first and second than we expected."

Aaron Jones was tabbed as the AAC Men's Track Athlete of the Year after winning the 10k with a meet record time and finishing as the runner-up in the 5k.

Ellen Mary Kearney was honored as the AAC Women's Freshman of the Year, sweeping rookie of the year honors across the AAC cross country, indoor and outdoor track seasons. Kearney won a pair of individual conference championship and anchored the Buffs' AAC championship record-setting 4x800-meter relay.

"Hats off to our student-athletes," said Layne. "They don't get a semester off - this is a year-round gig and to see them keep the focus they do just speaks volumes to the type of young women and young men in this program."

Kearney claimed the AAC title in the women's 800 in 2:16.65. Gracie Allen finished fourth in 2:20.68.

The Buffs swept the top three spots in the men's 5k. Bryn Woodall captured the AAC 5k championship in 14:55.32. Aaron Jones was the conference runner-up in 15:01.70 and Jake Crow placed third in 15:09.66. Zimri Kuhn gave the Buffs four scorers in the event with an eighth-place finish in 15:35.24.

The Buffs dominated the women's 5k as Caitlin Dominy took home the conference title as Milligan had five of the top six finishers. Dominy won the race in 18:28.42, followed by Alyssa Baerzi in 18:37.17. Anna Jones (19:03.73), Patricia Barrera (19:17.85) and Natalie Fellers (19:25.79) finished fourth through sixth.

Alex Brittain repeated as an AAC Champion in the men's 3k steeplechase. He led four Buffs in the top six with a time of 9:42.43. Pablo Rivas finished second in 10:05.96, Keaton Hincher was third in 10:07.71 and Thomas Johnson placed sixth in 10:38.01.

Milligan's men were the runner-up in the men's 4x400-meter relay. Jeremy Evans, Sylas Chambers, Evan Hayes and Ja'Quan Williams crossed the finish line in 3:23.11.

Chambers ran to a third-place finish among a competitive field in the 800. Chambers ran 1:53.39 and was followed by Will Stockley in fourth in 1:54.04. Arran Kearney was seventh in the 800 in 1:57.77.

Keith Fletcher finished fourth in the 200-meter dash in 22.15.

Ali Burns ran a season best time of 12:13.03 to place fourth in the women's 3k steeplechase. Kaelyn Slaughter logged a PB of 12:34.05 to finish fifth in the steeplechase.

Kearney, Allen, Kiley Wood and Megan Christian were fourth in the women's 4x400 relay in 4:13.14.

Kacey Webb placed fourth in the discus at 37.58 meters. Corey Greeson scored in the men's discus with a season best throw of 42.92 meters to finish fifth.

"I never really like to single out athletes because in an event like this there are just so many that deserve to be talked about on so many different levels," said Layne. "It might be conference honors for one, but then another one that just missed scoring but had a huge personal best worth celebrating in the same light. That's this entire team all season long."

The Buffs return to action at the Lee University Last Chance meet on May 12-13.

"Obviously we're not done yet with such an early conference championship so we'll let them turn their focus to exams this week and then get focused on turning the page towards the national championships for some and resting up for others," said Layne.