Photo of Rich Aubrey, Women’s Basketball Coach. Provided by Milligan College.
Track and Field
Milligan’s Track and Field team competed at the NAIA National’s meet in Brookings, South Dakota. The team had eight individual qualifiers for the meet, according to milliganbuffs.com. The team placed an impressive 16th overall. The highlights of the meet were an individual National Champion, Rasheem Brown, in the 60 meter hurdles and a second place finish by Timothy Thacker in the mile. In his championship winning effort, Brown set a national record with a time of 7.61. Thacker finished his mile at a 4:12:94, which is a personal best for him and only 1.15 seconds behind the first place finisher.
Timothy Thacker, Sophomore
“Nationals was an amazing experience! It was my first time traveling so much for a race, as well as my first real experience with championship racing – which tends to be both more physical and tactical. Nevertheless, it went quite well! Both the prelims and the finals for the mile were very tactical races, in which I was able to “sit and kick,” having a strong finish to notch second in each. When I crossed the line, I was stunned. I had the most bland look on my face for a sophomore who just finished second at nationals, but I was trying to stay composed. Inside, I was – and still am – jumping up and down like a little kid! Finally, I’m looking forward to doing it all again – except maybe a little faster next time.”
Swimming
The swim team sent 16 athletes the NAIA National Championship meet in Columbus, Georgia. The women’s team placed 15th overall and the men’s team place 17th. Highlights from the meet were 6th and 8th place finishes by Maggie Halloran and Sarah Farmer in the 100 meter backstroke.
Sterling Burnett, Junior
“At Nationals I was able to go a best time in the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.3 which was .09 seconds off the school record of 47.21. I was the fastest split on the 200, 400, and 800 freestyle relays. All the male, and I think the female, relays made it to finals (top 16). The team as a whole swam well. There were a couple of records broken both by individuals and relays.”
Maggie Halloran, Sophomore
“I competed in 3 individual events and 5 relays (all of them) while I was at nationals in Georgia. I placed 6, 8 and 9th in my individuals so I earned two more All-American accolades for the NAIA which makes me a 5 time All-American. I didn’t do quite as well as I had hoped, but I was able to score some points for my team and go pretty close to my best times so overall I’m happy with it.”
Women’s Basketball
The Women’s basketball team made the trip Sioux City, Iowa for the NAIA National Tournament. The team was ranked No. 22 nationally going into the tournament. They lost a close fight against No. 14 University of Saint Francis. The Buffs came out with a slow start and were never able to recover, despite strong individual performances from Sarah Robinson, Emily Kiser, and Teal Davis. The final score of the game was 73-63 in favor of St. Francis.
Coach Rich Aubrey
“Our experience at the National Tournament was very gratifying. While we lost, we played well considering our circumstances. Kaely Gose, one of our starters, was sick with a stomach bug. She did not play at all. Sarah Robinson was sick on game day. She played very well, but we were forced to limit her minutes, especially in the first half. Our effort against St. Francis was certainly no reason for us to hang our heads. The event is first class…Our players represented Milligan extremely well throughout the trip. We participated in the Special Olympics basketball clinic, we did classroom visits at a local elementary school and we spent time at Girls, Inc. interacting with the girls there. I’m very humbled to have coached this group. They will always hold a special place in my heart.”
Emily Kiser, Sophomore
“Going to Nationals with Milligan was an experience I’ll never forget. Our team made it two years ago, but I hadn’t come to Milligan yet, so it was a new and exciting journey for me. I think we all wanted to make history and win at least the first game, especially for our seniors, but sometimes things don’t happen the way you hope. Personally, the trip made me excited, yet anxious, for my senior year of basketball. All I can hope for is a senior season as successful as this year, and I look forward to putting in the work to do my part in that. Go Buffs!”