ELKHART, Ind. – Milligan University's swimming programs continued their battle for supremacy at the NAIA Swimming and Diving Championships in Elkhart, Ind., as the penultimate day saw four new school records set, as well as a pair of national runner-up finishes, plus much more.

To begin the day, Abigail Maniace posted a season-best swim in the prelims of the 100 Butterfly, in which she qualified seventh for the final with a time of 57.29. Madison Akbari and Mary Grace Bitting also posted finals qualifications, as Akbari's PB mark of 57.66 placed her 10^th in prelims. Bitting came in 12^th with a season-best time of 57.78 to qualify for the finals.

The men's 100 Butterfly preliminaries saw a trio of qualifiers for the finals, as well, as Christoph Haenel posted a school-record mark of 47.77 to reach the final. Sergio Tudor qualified eighth by swimming a 48.59 to set a new personal-best. RJ Brumit came in 12^th with a 49.36 PB during prelims, earning a spot in the 'B' final later in the evening.

Katelyn Williams swam a 4:56.59 in the women's 400 Individual Medley, placing 29^th.

Nathaniel Halloran was able to qualify for the final in the men's 400 IM, clocking in at 4:05.40, which was a personal-best time to place him 12^th in the preliminaries.

Two swimmers for Milligan took part in the women's 200 Freestyle prelims, as Emily Newman qualified 11^th for the final round on a swim of 1:55.17 to set a personal best. Riley Renaud also swam the event, reaching a time of 1:58.54 to place 23^rd.

Michael Rinaldi and Gellert Szedlak swam in the men's 200 Free, as the former qualified 13^th for the final with a PB time of 1:39.80. Szedlak came in 21^st and set a season-best time of 1:40.97.

Milligan's men saw three competitors reach the finals with strong performances in the preliminaries, as well as one other performance in prelims. Caleb Fry's 53.76 put him in second as his teammate Elijah Holliman earn a seventh-place qualification for the final on a personal-best 55.13 clip. Robert Adam also swam into the final with a 13^th-place showing of 55.59. Andrew Dawson came in 23^rd with a time of 57.25 in the event.

Mia Windham (14^th, 58.55) and Emily Dubes (15^th, 58.75, PB) both qualified for the finals in the women's 100 Backstroke, while Abbie Christensen (20^th, 59.15) and Emily Haas (25^th, 1:00.05, SB) also competed.

Paxton Smith would then qualify for the final in the men's 100 Back, as he had the fifth-fastest time in the prelims at 49.26, a personal-best. Brumit would come away with a 22^nd-place finish on a career-best clip of 51.38.

Then, in the finals, the women's 100 Fly saw Maniace place sixth to become an All-American for the first time in her collegiate career with a time of 57.07, which was also a Milligan record time. Akbari and Bitting placed 12^th and 15^th, respectively, with times of 57.59 (PB) and 57.86.

The men's 100 Fly saw Haenel shatter his school record for the second time on the day, as he touched the wall in 47.49 to conclude the event as the NAIA runner-up in the event. Tudor's time of 48.70 was good enough for 10^th, while Brumit set a personal-best of 49.08 to end up in 12^th place.

Halloran's 400 IM swim in the final round equaled a time of 4:03.77, which was a personal-best mark and earned him 14^th place.

Newman ended up 12^th for the women in the 200 Free, clocking a personal-best 1:54.83 in the 'B' final.

Rinaldi closed out the men's 200 Free with a time of 1:40.11 to set a new personal record, as he placed 13^th in the final.

The men's 100 Breaststroke saw Fry unleash a stellar 53.43 to end up as the runner-up in the nation and set a new Milligan record. It also sealed his program-record 10^th all-time NAIA All-American honor. Holliman also earned All-America status, swimming a personal-best 55.10 to place eighth overall. In the 'B' final, Adam ended up in 11^th with a time of 55.38, which was also his personal-best clip.

Both Windham and Dubes ended up as 'B' final finishers in the women's 100 Back for the Buffaloes in 12^th and 16^th, respectively. A 58.56 and a 59.18 earned them those slots.
Smith clocked in at 49.09 to set a personal best in the men's 100 Back. He became an All-American in the event with that effort.

The final event of the day for both genders was the 400 Medley Relay, as Milligan's women included Windham, Teagan Jose, Maniace and Akbari. They ended up 11^th with a time of 3:56.93.

Capping off the day with a bang were the men, as the 400 Medley Relay group included Smith, Fry, Haenel and Rinaldi. They teamed up to place fifth, earning All-American status as a squad and setting a new Milligan record mark of 3:15.66.

The final day of the competition takes place on Saturday, as the men remain in the No. 3 spot in the standings with 254 points, just three points back of Cumberlands (Ky.) for second. The women are still in eighth place, totaling 113 points. Saturday's events include the 1650 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly and the 400 Freestyle Relay.

RESULTS