Three Milligan athletes earned Appalachian Athletic Conference honors this week. Kaely Gose, of women’s basketball, Tim Thacker, of men’s indoor track and field and Sterling Burnett, of men’s swimming.
This is Gose’s second consecutive AAC player of the week award. She credits the hard work and talent of her teammates for allowing her to earn these two honors.
“I owe a lot of receiving the award to my teammates because many of them are stepping up and are playing very well this year,” said Gose.
She has a positive outlook on the rest of the season, for herself and the team, as they continue to push themselves toward success.
“Personally, I am hoping to keep being more aggressive on both offense and defense,” said Gose. “For our team, I think we are growing with each game and will keep being competitive.”
Thacker has also had a successful season, achieving three national qualifying times during the first two indoor track meets.Yet, winning the AAC honor was an unexpected addition to his accolades.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” said Thacker. “I didn’t expect to be honored as AAC track athlete of the week, as Rasheem Brown ran some phenomenal times at the same meet.”
With the season off to a great start, Thacker has his eyes set on some bigger goals. He hopes to improve on his mile at nationals and is shooting to break the school record in the same event sometime before he graduates next year.
“Both of those goals are quite ambitious, but I don’t want to aim for any less,” said Thacker.
Burnett also has some big goals set for the year after receiving his AAC honor.
“There are a few team records on the wall I would like to change out with my name,” said Burnett. “If I could put my mark up there one or two more times, I’d be able to retire happily.”
He also expects the team overall to make some improvements, and even claims it’s his teammates that push him to succeed individually.
“I’d like to give a shout out to my lane partner Matthew McFalls who is always pushing me to be my best. I wouldn’t be here without him. His love of swimming is what drives me,” said Burnett.
With several impressive athletic accomplishments already this year, it looks like the Milligan Buffs have a lot more success planned for 2020.
Headline photo: The Milligan pool where Burnett practices and competes.