ELKHART, Ind. – Milligan University's swimming programs saw the conclusion of the 2025-26 season on Saturday in Elkhart, Ind., as the two squads ended the day with an individual national championship, as well as a national runner-up and numerous All-Americans. They placed fifth on the men's side with 360 points, and eighth overall on the women's side with 178 points in the event.

Katelyn Williams began the day by swimming the 1650 Freestyle for the women and placed 15^th with a time of 18:25.80, a season-best mark.

Atakan Ercan ended up 10^th in the men's 1650 Free, clocking in at 16:05.32.

The women's 200 Backstroke prelims took place first for the Buffaloes on Saturday, as Emily Haas ended up with a season-best mark of 2:07.19 to qualify for the 'B' final. Her teammate Mia Windham also earned a place in the 'B' final, swimming to a season-best time of 2:07.61. Abbie Christensen was right on the outside looking in for the event, as she ended up 17^th with a clip of 2:08.19.

Paxton Smith was the lone competitor in the men's 200 Back, as he swam to a 12^th-place qualifying mark to reach the 'B' final. His time of 1:49.41 equaled a personal best.

Milligan's Michael Rinaldi was able to post the 16^th-place time in prelims of the 100 Freestyle, earning a spot in the 'B' final with a season-best 45.14.

In the women's 200 Breaststroke, Teagan Jose came away with a 13^th-place preliminaries finish, qualifying for the 'B' final in 2:24.25.

The top event of the day for the Buffaloes was the men's 200 Breaststroke, as it yielded Milligan three 'A' final qualifiers. Elijah Holliman began with a third-place prelims showing, clocking a season-best time of 1:58.98. Caleb Fry was right behind him, clocking in at 1:59.42 to qualify fourth for the final. Robert Adam also earned a spot in the top final, securing a time of 2:00.92 to set a season-best clip.

Mary Grace Bitting (9^th, 2:07.84, SB) and Abigail Maniace (10^th, 2:08.13) each qualified for the 200 Butterfly 'B' final as the two MU competitors in the event.

The Buffaloes had four men in the 200 Fly, with two of them reaching the 'B' final. Christoph Haenel ended up ninth in prelims with a mark of 1:49.61 to set a personal best. Gellert Szedlak scored a 1:51.65 to qualify in the No. 14 spot for the 'B' final. Nathaniel Halloran came in 17^th with a personal-best time of 1:52.17 and Sergio Tudor came in 23^rd with a time of 1:54.94.

In the finals, Riley Renaud returned to the top of the podium in the 1650 Freestyle with a personal-best, program-record time of 16:59.85 as the only swimmer to eclipse the 17-minute plateau. She became a three-time national champ in the event with the effort.

Haas and Windham placed 13^th and 15^th, respectively, in the 200 Back final on the women's side with times of 2:07.53 and 2:08.62.

Smith ended up in 11^th in the men's 200 Back, scoring a personal-best clip of 1:49.76 in the process.

After qualifying 16^th, Rinaldi ended up as the winner of the 'B' final in the 100 Free, finishing in 44.45 to shatter his previous personal-best mark.

Jose came away with a 16^th-place ending in the women's 200 Breaststroke, clocking in at 2:28.46.

For the men's 200 Breaststroke, Fry set a new Milligan record with a 1:57.37 clip to end up as the NAIA runner-up. His teammate Holliman placed third, clocking a season-best time of 1:58.32 to join Fry on the podium. Lastly, Adam completed a sixth-place swim to earn All-American status with a personal-best time of 2:00.29.

The women's 200 Fly 'B' final saw Maniace win the race with a time of 2:07.90 to place ninth. Bitting was the 14^th-place finisher, notching a 2:09.48 time to earn a season-best.

Haenel concluded his 200 Fly efforts with a 10^th place overall finish, plus a program-record mark of 1:48.75 in the 'B' final. Szedlak joined him in that race and placed 14^th, boasting a season-best 1:51.41.

The women's 400 Freestyle Relay squad, consisting of Madison Akbari, Emily Dubes, Bitting and Emily Newman, ended up as a seventh-place finisher to take home All-American status with a time of 3:32.06.

Lastly, Milligan's men's 400 Free Relay posted a fifth-place finish, as Smith, Haenel, Rinaldi and Fry combined to swim a 2:58.47 to also earn All-American status.

At the conclusion of the event, Milligan's men scored 360 points to place fourth overall as a team, while the women placed eighth with 178 points in a strong performance finishing amongst the top 10 programs in the nation.

The 2025-26 season included many massive records, All-Americans, national runners-up and one national champion, as the Water Buffs have much to look forward to with a bright future ahead.

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