Outdoor Track send five student-athletes to 5k finals at NAIA National Championships

MARION, Ind. (May 25, 2023) – The Milligan University outdoor track & field teams had all five of their 5k participants advance to tomorrow's finals on the second day of the NAIA National Championships at Indiana Wesleyan on Thursday.

Alyssa Bearzi ran the second-fastest time in heat two and No. 4 time overall (17:45.93) in the 5k prelims. Caitlin Dominy also punched her ticket to tomorrow's women's 5k final as the fifth finisher in heat one at 17:55.86.

Bryn Woodall (14:46.30), Will Stockley (14:47.01) and Aaron Jones (14:56.27) all earned spots in the men's 5k final with their preliminary efforts. Woodall and Stockley were fourth and fifth respectively in heat two and overall. Jones was the fifth finisher in heat one and 14th overall.

"A great day for our 5k crew," said head coach Chris Layne. "It's not easy to get everyone through, but they all did a nice job of doing what was needed to advance. Really like how both Alyssa and Aaron handled things coming off the 10k."

In the men's 4x800 relay final Milligan placed ninth with a time of 8:04.96 with Sylas Chambers, Jake Crow, Dawson Reed and Carter Windham representing the Buffs in the final.

"We just ran into a little bad luck in the 4x8 final and didn't have an alternate available and two of our guys from the prelims had their 5k prelims next to the final, which we knew coming in," said Layne. "I'm really proud of how Dawson for stepped up for the other guys so they could line up. It's tough asking a guy to do that coming off the 10k...you just can't be short-handed and expect to be competitive against these teams."

Keith Fletcher finished 17th in the 110 hurdles prelims with a time of 14.73. He closes the season as a national qualifier in the hurdles during the indoor and outdoor season.

Chambers placed 19th in the 800 meter prelims. He clocked in at 1:55.10 to finish fifth in heat three.

The Buffs are set to compete in the women's 1500 and men's and women's 5k finals on championship Friday at the NAIA National Championships tomorrow.