BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. – On Thursday, the Milligan University men's and women's indoor track & field teams began their 2025-26 season at the Montreat College Track & Field Exam in Black Mountain, N.C. The teams had a great beginning to their campaigns with 21 personal-best marks on the afternoon.
"It was a little cool," said head coach
Chris Layne, "but it was a really fun meet. Almost no wind all day so it would've been tough to expect better weather this time of year."
In the first event of the day, men's Shot Put,
Brendon Gibson started his season by taking runner-up honors with a personal-best toss. Philip Lotivio (5th) followed him as the other Milligan competitor in the top five.
The women's Shot Put saw the Buffaloes'
Kacey Webb notch a personal-best throw on her first attempt to place her as the runner-up among six competitors.
For the men's Long Jump,
Landon York (3rd, 6.32m) took part in the event and placed in the top three.
Milligan's women's 1000m Run group included
Ana Canibano (2nd, 3:06.51),
Gabriella Hoover (3rd, 3:07.44),
Hope Krell (4th, 3:09.11) and
Isabelle Johnson (5th, 3:13.13) all in the top five with personal bests.
There were also several men from the Buffs squad that competed in the 1000m Run.
Joshua Starr led the way for the team as the runner-up in a personal-best 2:41.85.
Jaiden Carmichael (3rd, 2:42.15),
Nathan Taal (4th, 2:44.12),
Granville Sexton (5th, 2:46.13),
Talan Hammack (6th, 2:47.02, PB) and
Andrew Whaley (7th, 2:48.91) rounded out places 3-7 for Milligan.
Junior men's thrower
Dillon Handshey came away with the program's first event triumph of the day in the Weight Throw, as he launched the implement 13.46m for a personal best to win for the Buffaloes.
The women's Weight Throw included an event winner for Milligan, as well.
Annika Hoefler unfurled a 12.19m personal-best throw to win the event. Also competing for the Buffaloes was
Faith Helton, who placed third with a personal-best toss on her second attempt.
Beginning the women's 5000m Run, the deepest event of the day for the women, Canibano placed fifth in 18:31.38 to lead the charge for the Buffaloes. Hoover and
Sunny Eorgan placed eighth and ninth in 18:55.19 and 19:03.83, respectively. All three of those times were personal bests.
On the men's side, it was another deep 5000m Run. There were several PB runs by Buffaloes, including a fifth-place finish by
Luke Kennedy in 15:18.23.
Elijah Gouge (11th, 16:18.67), Whaley (16th, 16:56.18) and Hammack (17th, 16:57.15) also had career runs.
The men's High Jump was dominated by
Conner Mowell and Lotivio, who tied for first at 1.85m. For Mowell, that was a personal-best showing.
Another Buffaloes event win came from York in the men's 60m Hurdles, as the freshman posted the top time in the race.
The women's 200m Dash's top finisher was from Milligan, as
Mary Custodio led the way as the only competitor under 30 seconds.
In the men's 60m Dash,
Connor Gibson ended up in second place out of four sprinters as the lone Milligan participant.
The men's 400m Dash saw York post another strong finish, as he came in second with a time of 52.02 seconds.
"It's just our first indoor meet of the year, but we saw a bunch of personal bests across every event area," Layne stated. "I was really pleased with how we competed and supported one another. The way they embraced this meet says a lot about this group."
Both teams will now look ahead to this Saturday, Dec. 6, when they head out to Winston-Salem, N.C. for the Visit Winston-Salem College Kickoff event. The meet begins at 9:30 a.m. that morning.
RESULTS
