LEXINGTON, Va. – Friday through Sunday, the Milligan University swimming squads both took part in the VMI Midseason Invite at the Virginia Military Institute. It was another successful showing by both the men and women, as the men placed second out of nine squads, and the women came in third out of 10.

The first final was the women's 500 Freestyle, which was expertly swam by Riley Renaud, who posted a clip of 5:08.25 to finish third as an individual. Both Abigail Maniace and Emily Newman placed in the top five with times of 5:13.47 and 5:16.04, respectively.

Atakan Ercan notched a top-five finish in the men's 500 Freestyle, as he posted a 4:39.84 to place third overall. Peter Gilbert came out with a seventh-place showing.

Teagan Jose came away with a fifth-place showing in the women's 200 Individual Medley, scoring a 2:13.36 time to lead the way for the Buffaloes in the event.

Milligan had three men post top-five conclusions in the 200 IM, as Robert Adam (1:50.64, 2nd), Nathaniel Halloran (1:55.24, 3rd) and Reef Parman (1:56.14, 5th) clocked those marks.

The men's 50 Freestyle saw Caleb Fry snag an event victory, as he touched the wall in 20.13 to outduel a VMI counterpart. Paxton Smith placed third in the event, compiling a 20.71 time.

In the women's 200 Freestyle Relay, Emily Dubes, Lauren Brindle, Abigail Pauls and Mary Grace Bitting teamed up to notch a 1:38.41. With that, they placed as the runner-up in the event.

The men's 200 Freestyle Relay team, including Smith, Gellert Szedlak, Michael Rinaldi and Fry, was able to post the same second-place finish as the women. They clocked in at 1:21.94, just under a second behind VMI.

For the women's 400 Medley Relay, Mia Windham, Jose, Maniace and Bitting came in second with a clip of 4:00.04.

The Buffs got their second win of the weekend in the men's 400 Medley Relay, as Smith, Adam, Sergio Tudor and Fry collectively put forth a 3:19.38 mark to outpace the hosts.

Milligan's women saw their first event win from Maniace in the 100 Butterfly, where she won by over a second in 57.34 to equal her collegiate-best mark.

Tudor and Christoph Haenel came in third and fourth in the men's 100 Butterfly in 49.37 and 49.54, respectively.

The women's 400 IM included Peyton Brady, who swam a marvelous 4:42.66 to finish as the runner-up in the event.

Halloran (4:07.37, 2nd), Gilbert (4:12.24, 4th) and Jack Allen (4:12.31, 5th) all came away with top-five placements in the men's 400 IM.

It was Newman and Renaud for the women that posted 200 Freestyle finishes in the top five, as Newman came away with a 1:56.97 to finish third and Renaud clocked a 1:58.67 to come away with fourth place.

Szedlak had a stellar 200 Freestyle showing, finishing just over two tenths of a second behind the winner. He was the runner-up in 1:41.18 in the event.

Jose placed fifth for the women in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:08.34.

Fry won his second event of the weekend in the 100 Breaststroke, touching the wall in 53.78. Adam (55.77) and Elijah Holliman (56.43) closed out the race in third and fourth overall.

The women's 100 Backstroke included two top-five placements for the Buffaloes, as Windham (58.35) and Dubes (59.49) took fourth and fifth.

Smith posted a second-place result in the men's 100 Backstroke, clocking in at 49.73 seconds in the race.

The men's 200 Medley Relay team of Smith, Adam, Tudor and Fry concluded their swim in 1:29.57 to notch another runner-up result for the Milligan men.

Milligan's women's 800 Freestyle Relay group, including Renaud, Bitting, Maniace and Newman compiled a time of 7:56.59 to finish just over half a second behind the winning squad in second.

The men's contingent in the 800 Freestyle Relay won the event. Adam, Tudor, Haenel and Szedlak combined to post a 6:46.28 and win by nearly three seconds.

Emily Haas (2:07.41, 3rd) and Windham (2:08.26, 5th) both posted top-five results in the women's 200 Backstroke, while Abbie Christensen came in sixth.

Smith and Rinaldi clocked third and fourth-place conclusions in the men's 100 Freestyle, posting 45.36 and 45.65 times, respectively.

Another women's victory came from Jose in the 200 Breaststroke, as she came away with a 2:23.52 to outpace her competition by over a second in the race.

Three of the top five finishers in the men's 200 Breaststroke were Water Buffaloes, as Fry notched yet another win with a time of 1:58.65 as the only swimmer under two minutes. Holliman was right behind him as the second finisher in 2:00.42. Adam came away with fourth in 2:01.46.

The women's 200 Butterfly saw another MU win, as Maniace blitzed the competition with a stunning time of 2:07.86. Brady posted a clip of 2:11.32, as well, as she ended up in third place. Bitting would place sixth in the race.

More standout swims would come in the men's 200 Butterfly, as Haenel got his first victory of the weekend in 1:49.84. Szedlak was second with a time of 1:51.54 and Tudor clocked in fourth in 1:53.15. Halloran would finish sixth, just outside the top five.

Distance race dominance was displayed by Renaud for the women, as she took home the 1650 Freestyle title with a 17:34.67 clip. Katelyn Williams also finished in the top five, ending up in fifth in 18:32.39.

It was Ercan who matched Renaud with a win of his own in the men's 1650 Freestyle. He clocked a 15:56.55, which was over 15 seconds faster than any other swimmer. Gilbert would just miss the top five in sixth.

The 400 Freestyle Relay in the women's side placed fourth in 3:37.82, as Dubes, Brindle, Maniace and Newman teamed up for that mark.

On the men's side, the 400 Freestyle Relay that included Fry, Adam, Rinaldi and Smith, posted a 3:00.43 to close out the race in second place.

Click HERE to view the full results. 

Milligan's midseason event is in the books and it was certainly a successful one, with numerous wins and NAIA provisional standards. The next time that the teams will be in the pool for a meet is Saturday, Dec. 6 at Milligan, as the teams will be hosting their senior meet at home against an opponent to be decided.