ELKHART, Ind. – On Thursday, the top-10 ranked Milligan University Swimming squads continued their NAIA National Championship runs with preliminary and finals sessions in the Elkhart Aquatics Center in the Hoosier State. Following qualifications for finals by three individuals in prelims, plus two relays taking place in the evening, a pair of school records and four total top-five finishes were tallied.

The day in its totality would include the 500 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Individual Medley, 50 Yard Freestyle and 200 Yard Freestyle Relay. The three individual events all had preliminaries during the morning session, while the relay had just a final in the evening. The top 16 preliminary finishers in each event moved forward to the final round.

In prelims for the women's 500 Freestyle, Riley Renaud swam to the tune of a 5:06.01 clip to secure the fourth-fastest time to qualify for the final in the evening session. Emily Newman placed 20^th with a time of 5:17.35, and Katelyn Williams ended up 28^th with a mark of 5:21.69, a season-best clip for her.

The men had just Atakan Ercan in the 500 Freestyle, as he ended up in 26^th place with a time of 4:43.61 to round out that event.

A total of three Milligan swimmers took part in the women's 200 Individual Medley, as Abigail Maniace finished in 26^th with the fastest time of the three, at 2:12.77. Teagan Jose displayed a personal-best time of 2:12.88 to finish 29^th, while Mia Windham came in 33^rd and touched the wall in 2:14.18.

Two of Milligan's four men's swimmers in the 200 Individual Medley qualified for the final. Robert Adam's time of 1:49.16 was a season-best mark and qualified him third out of 16 advancing swimmers. Elijah Holliman also reached the final with a 1:49.83 to finish sixth in prelims. His swim was a personal-best. Christoph Haenel (23^rd, 1:54.63) and Nathaniel Halloran (T-24^th, 1:54.67, PB) also competed in the event.

Milligan's women narrowly missed out of a 50 Freestyle qualifier, as Madison Akbari ended up in 18^th during the prelims with a time of 24.15, just 0.06 away from taking a spot in the final. Emily Dubes (40^th, 24.86) and Mary Grace Bitting (T-43^rd, 25.00, PB) also swam for the Buffaloes.

The men did have a pair of qualifying times in the 50 Freestyle, with Caleb Fry compiling a personal-best, 19.91 mark that is a new Milligan record for the 50 Free. He outpaced the previous record, set by himself at 19.92. Paxton Simth also swam a personal-best time of 20.31 to reach the No. 9 spot in prelims and qualify for the final. Michael Rinaldi (21^st, 20.77, SB), Gellert Szedlak (T-25^th, 21.00, PB), RJ Brumit (37^th, 21.39) and Andrew Dawson (40^th, 21.53) all competed, as well.

Renaud's 500 Freestyle swim would come first, and fireworks would erupt en route to a Milligan record time of 5:00.06 and a third-place finish overall for the squad to become an All-American for the seventh time as a Buffalo.

Then, Adam took part in the 200 IM final, in which he emerged as the No. 5 finisher with a time of 1:49.47. With the performance, he sealed All-American status for the third time in his two-year Milligan career.

Fry would end up shattering the school record that he set on Thursday morning again in the 50 Freestyle final. He swam to a 19.82 clip and finished in third place in the nation. In his career, it is the ninth time that Fry has been an All-American with the Buffs.

The women's 200 Freestyle Relay, consisting of Akbari, Dubes, Jose and Bitting, placed ninth out of 16 finals squads with a time of 1:37.53. It was their best time of the season as a group at the most opportune time, having been seeded at No. 12 entering the race.

For the men in the 200 Freestyle Relay, a season-best by over a second-and-a-half placed the team in fourth overall, earning them All-American status for the sixth straight season in that specific event. That streak includes one national title.

The Buffs' men currently sit in third as a program, totaling 139 points. For the women, it is an eighth-place standing at this point, as they have 70 points as a squad.

The busiest day of the event takes place on Friday, as the 100 Butterfly, 400 IM, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke and 100 Backstroke will be decided with prelims at 9 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m. The 400 Medley Relays will have their finals at the conclusion of the 5 p.m. session, as well.

RESULTS