GAINESVILLE, Fla. – On Saturday at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Gainesville, Fla., the Milligan University Buffaloes concluded their three-day quest for a championship with five events featuring seven athletes. The day was highlighted by national champion
Ellen-Mary Kearney's run of 9:45.69 in the 3000m for a first-place finish. Both the MU men and women ended the event in the top 20 of their respective championships.
The opening event of the day for Milligan was the men's 600m, in which
Luis Peralta came into the event with a win in his heat and a fourth-place finish in the preliminary round. Peralta was able to improve that position and make his way to the podium as an All-American, as he posted a mark of 1:17.87 to place first in his heat. That would end up third overall, 1.57 seconds shy of the champion.
Next on the list for the Buffaloes was
Marti Molins Rallo in the men's 800m, who had qualified with the second-fastest time in the preliminaries. He finished in the same spot in the final, running a 1:51.07 to place as runner-up to the national champion. That mark was 0.64 seconds faster than his previous time but fell short of the champion's winning time of 1:50.95, as he clinched All-American status.
History was made in the next event of the day, as Kearney was well ahead of all competition in the women's 3000m. She completed the race in 9:45.69 to win the national championship. The second-place runner was over six seconds behind her at 9:51.95. The Buffs also had two other runners in the event, as
Karly Wilhjelm (8th) was the next Milligan runner to cross the line with a 10:01.44 run and an All-American finish, while
McKenzie Fitzgerald finished 11th with a 10:17.80.
On the men's side of the 3000m,
Aaron Gottlied finished just outside the top 10 in 11th place with a time of 8:27.64.
Next up was
Annabelle Stewart in the women's 5000m, who came in 16th place in her race.
Milligan's women's Distance Medley Relay team, which entered as the No. 2 qualifier, capped off the day for the Buffaloes with a third-place podium finish. The team, composed of
Kaylee Coll,
Aleah Soderman, Fitzgerald and Kearney, crossed the line in a time of 11:42.60 to set a brand new Milligan record and the fourth-fastest time in NAIA history.
Overall, the Milligan men's team scored 14 points as a team to tie for a 15th-place finish, while the MU women's team scored 17 points to tie for an 18th-place finish.
Now, it is on to the outdoor season for the Buffaloes, who boasted a total of four individual All-Americans and an All-American DMR squad, including one national title and a national runner-up effort. The outdoor schedule begins two weeks from now, as the Buffaloes begin the season at the Montreat Open on March 20-21 in North Carolina.
