WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – On Friday, the Milligan University men's and women's indoor track & field squads concluded their run at the 2026 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C. With impressive performances on the second day of the event, the Buffaloes grabbed their fifth straight men's title and their second title in three years on the women's side.

The day began with a pair of Buffs women in the 60m Hurdles, as Aleah Soderman (3^rd, 9.51) and Jade Mansogo (5^th, 9.66) picked up points for the Buffs to begin the day.

On the men's side of the 60m Hurdles, Kenny Carlton (2^nd, 8.54), Landon York (4^th, 8.70) and Jordyn Winegar-Collis (6^th, 9.17) came away with points for the Buffaloes, as well.

Hunter Crook placed eighth for the Milligan men in the 60m Dash, clocking in at 7.17 seconds.

Mary Custodio then posted a Pole Vault height of 2.50m to finish as the conference runner-up.

In the women's 3000m, Ellen-Mary Kearney continued with her outstanding event, finishing in 9:45.43 to become the AAC champion and posts an NAIA 'A' standard clip. Karly Wilhjelm came out with a time of 10:11.16 to finish in the No. 3 position, while Annabelle Stewart placed fourth in 10:25.78. Joanna Halterman provided a fifth-place finish in 10:31.57.

The men's 3000m was highlighted by Aaron Gottlied, who finished as the conference runner-up, running a stellar 8:25.33 to become the NAIA No. 9 runner this season in the 3000m. With the run, he earned a national qualifying mark with the NAIA 'B' standard. Caleb Greene came out with a fifth-place showing in 8:44.88, and Rowen Moser-Bryan placed sixth with a time of 8:49.11. Bryson Lewis also finished in the top eight, coming in seventh with a 8:52.87 mark.

In the women's 800m, McKenzie Fitgerald narrowly missed an NAIA qualifying time, but did take home an AAC title, clocking a 2:18.41 to win the event. Kaylee Coll crossed the line in 2:18.77, just behind Fitzgerald, to earn runner-up honors. Gabriella Hoover placed fifth with a 2:21.48 clip on the race, and Ana Canibano came out with sixth, sporting a 2:22.08 time. Isabelle Johnson also earned a point for the Buffs, grabbing eighth place with a time of 2:24.75.

Jacob Moore notched the AAC title in the men's Pole Vault, launching himself 4.00m as the only competitor to reach that height on their first attempt.

Trevor Sinard (3^rd, 14.94m) and Zion Reddick (5^th, 14.15m) both finished in the points during the Shot Put competition.

York came away with a Long Jump finish of sixth place to grab three more points for the men with a leap of 6.19m.

The men's 800m was a huge output for the men, as Luis Peralta unfurled a 1:51.06, which is a meet record for the AAC. It is also a NAIA 'A' standard time. Marti Molins Rallo came in second, finishing in an NAIA 'B' standard 1:52.74 with what also would have been a meet record. Even Carter Windham's third-place time of 1:53.35 was good enough to be the meet record if it had come a year earlier.

Crook came in eighth in another event, the men's 200m, grabbing a point with a run of 22.47 seconds.

The women's 600m saw Sophia Jeffers (6^th, 1:47.90) and Hope Krell (7^th, 1:48.07) come across the finish line with three and two points, respectively.

For the men, Peralta won his second AAC championship of the day, setting a facility, meet, and collegiate JDL record time of 1:17.52 in the 600m. That time leads the NAIA this year, while also equaling a NAIA 'A' standard by nearly two full seconds.

In the women's Mile, Kearney snatched her second crown of the day, setting a meet-record time of 4:50.27 to win the AAC's top spot on the podium. Coll (3^rd, 5:10.29), Wilhjelm (4^th, 5:11.76), Fitzgerald (5^th, 5:11.99) and Johnson (7^th, 5:21.15) rounded out Milligan scorers in the event.

On the men's side, Molins Rallo posted runner-up honors with a 4:21.28, followed by Gottlied's 4:21.38 in third. Lewis came in fourth, as well, managing a 4:24.58 clip.
 
Milligan's women's 4x800m Relay, including Morgan Wilson, Jeffers, McKenna Spaulding and Hope Krell, put together an AAC Championship run of 10:02.36 to take the conference title.

The men's outfit placed second, as Jaiden Carmichael, Evan Holbrook, Eli Cox and Granville Sexton ran a 8:05.68 time.

The women's 4x400m Relay included Custodio, Wilson, Mansogo and Soderman, and they placed third with a 4:14.90.

Lastly, the men's 4x400m Relay came away with a time of 3:27.52 to place fourth. Carlton, York, Holbrook and Kaleb Spears teamed up for the time. 

RESULTS

The Milligan men concluded with 178.5 points to outpace the runner-up Montreat by 68.5 total points, grabbing their fifth straight AAC title as a team in the indoor season.

For the women, it was a return to the top after a one-year departure. They scored 175 points, beating out Columbia (S.C.) by 46 total points for the Buffaloes' fourth ever indoor title on the women's side.

Kearney was named the women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year at the end of the meet, while Peralta was tapped the men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. Coll took home women's Newcomer of the Year honors and Milligan was selected as the AAC Staff of the Year, as well.

The Buffs will now prepare for the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Gainesville, Fla. on March 5-7 with exceedingly high hopes in several individual events.