The No. 7 Milligan University men’s swimming team became Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) champions for the first time in school history on Saturday, ending a 3-day conference meet at the Kingsport Aquatic center as the best team in the AAC. The No. 9 Milligan women’s team earned runner-up honors behind No. 4 Asbury University by 12 points.
Milligan won a total of 19 events, with 10 on the men’s side and nine on the women’s. Freshman Stephen Gilbert led the men’s team with three individual titles and five relay titles, breaking several Milligan and AAC records in the process, which led him to earn AAC swimmer of the year.
Freshmen Tyler Cates, Gabby McPherson and Kaylee Williams led the women with five individual titles between them with all three breaking Milligan records as well in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly, respectively.
This was the most successful conference meet ever for the Buffs, as the men have never won an individual or relay title before, let alone obtain the team title. Not to be outdone, the women only lost by a mere 12 points, coming closer than ever before to landing their first ever team title as well.
Junior Elijah Manning swam the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, the 400-individual medley, and was part of the 200 and 400 medley relay teams. He shared his thoughts on the team’s performance.
“As far as conference goes, this is the first time Milligan has ever won the men’s side. It was a super good meet, a lot of meet and Milligan records were broken. I’m proud of my team and next year we are definitely looking to continue our success,” said Manship.
Sophomore Reagan Fillinger swam the 500 free, 100 fly, 200 fly and was a part of a few relays. She is very hopeful towards the future.
“Conference went super well! The team really came together and encouraged each other and supported each other,” said Fillinger. “We raced fast and had a lot of fun with it. I’m really looking forward to see what we’ll do next year at conference with our returners and incoming freshman!”
The AAC Championships put a cap on Milligan’s 2020-2021 season, due to this year’s NAIA National Championships being cancelled because of COVID-19 concerns.
Headline photo: No. 7 Men’s Swimming are AAC Champions, No. 9 Women come up short as runner-up.