As the academic year draws to a close, it marks the conclusion of another busy season of Milligan sports. Here is a recap of the highlights from Milligan sports this spring semester.
Men’s Basketball finished with a 14-13 season record. They made it to the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) tournament quarterfinals before falling to Johnson University 73-70. A few players ended with some postseason awards. Lincoln Thomae and Mac Rivers made the AAC All-Freshman Team. Mac Rivers also made the All-AAC Second Team. Follie Bogan was named to the All-AAC First Team, and AAC Player of the Year, was a five-time AAC Player of the Week, and an NAIA Third Team All-American.
Women’s basketball finished with a 23-8 record. They made it to the second round of the AAC tournament after falling to Reinhart 76-60. They achieved an at-large bid for the NAIA National Tournament. This was their first time making the tournament since 2019 and their ninth time in school history. Their post-season awards included Halie Padgett and Semaj Clark making the All-AAC second team, Lauren Longmire and Clark making the AAC All-Defensive Team, and Longmire and Jaycie Jenkins making the ALL-AAC First team. Jenkins was also an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention.
Milligan’s cross country team capped off a successful Cross Country season where Milligan’s men’s cross country team won the NAIA national championship. The men’s and women’s track and field teams then transitioned into the indoor season. Both teams repeated as indoor ACC champions and sent 19 student-athletes to the NAIA indoor national championships. They left that meeting with six people achieving All-American Honors (Romario Taylor. Ellen-Mary Kearney, Caitlin Dominy, Aaron Jones, Bryn Woodall, and Will Stockley). Stockley and Kearney were named USTFCCCA South Region Athlete of the Year and AAC Indoor Track Athletes of the Year Taylor and Hannah Brown were named AAC Newcomers of the Year. They are preparing for the AAC Outdoor Championships on Mar. 18-20.
Milligan swim teams swept the AAC swimming titles. This was the men’s fourth title and the women’s third. Riley Renaud and Paxton Smith were the conference swimmers of the year and Smith also won Freshman of the Year. This was Renaud’s second time winning the award. Head Coach Spencer Scarth was named Coach of the Year. Scratch had 21 qualifiers for the NAIA National Championship and walked away with 10 All-Americans. The men had six and the women had 4 respectively. The men included Caeb Fry, Stephen Gilbert, Hudson Trammel, Andre Bazzana, Paxton Smith, and Peter Gilbert. The women’s All-Americans were Hanne Te Velthuis, Gabby Macoherson, Riley Renaud, and Mary Grace Bitting. The team also had all national champions with Stephen Gilbert winning the 400m individual medley and Riley Renaud in the 1650m freestyle. Scratch was named NAIA coach of the year as he led the women to a third-place overall team finish at the event.
Milligan’s golf season is still underway, but they have had a successful season so far. Both teams had many All-Tournament performances and AAC Golfer of the Week winners. The women’s team recently concluded the AAC Championship as they finished third overall. Mallory TreVrucht and Bailey McGaha earned All-Conference Honors. The Men’s AAC Championship will take place Mar. 22-23.
Milligan’s men’s tennis finished their season 8-12 record. That brought them to fourth in the AAC. Their season ended in the first round of the AAC tournament. They landed three individuals on the All-Conference. The men’s tennis saw Stefan Macheiner and Justin Rigsby earn All-AAC First Team honors with Gonzaga Lafarga making the All-Freshman Team.
The women’s team finished with a 9-11 record that sat them at sixth in the conference standard. Their season also finished in the first round of the tournament. They also had three ALL-AAC athletes as well. Kylie Enarson nabbed All-AAC Women’s Tennis First Team accolades, while Marta Miralles and Lauren Wimmer picked up All-Freshman Team honors.
Both Milligan men’s and women’s bowling teams placed fifth at the NAIA national championships.
Milligan’s baseball team season is still underway as they currently have a 27-15 record and sit fourth in the AAC. Milligan softball is currently ranked 10th in the conference with a 12-21 record.
Milligan cycling team tied for fifth at CX Nationals in December and won the confernce team omnium for road. Matthias Herrmann and Samanth Clark won the confernce individual omnium.
For any updates on Milligan sports visit milliganbuffs.com
About the author:
Evan Hayes is a sophomore from Memphis who wishes to help The Stampede in any way possible. He is a member of the Milligan track and Ffield team as a sprinter and plans to join more clubs as he continues at Milligan. He is a multimedia journalism major. He enjoys listening to music and staying active. After graduation, he hopes to go into the field of sports media.