MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Feb. 26, 2019) – Eight women and eight men from the Milligan College swimming team are heading to the NAIA Swimming & Diving National Championships this week. The event is scheduled for Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 27 – March 2, at the Columbus Aquatic Center in Columbus, Georgia.

Junior Sara Farmer, sophomore Margaret Halloran and freshman Isaac Etherton highlight the pool of qualifiers, as they each will swim in a team-most three individual events.

Farmer (50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke) is coming off top-four finishes in each of her individual events at the recent Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships. Halloran (100 Backstroke, 200 Backstroke, 500 Freestyle) was the AAC runner-up in her three individual events. Etherton (100 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke, 200 Butterfly) finished in the top five in the 100 and 200 butterfly at the AAC Championships.

Head Coach Kelly Essler said that while the national championships continue to get stronger each year, so does her team.

“Right now the NAIA national championships are getting bigger and better,” she said. “There is more depth than last year to compete against, but we have not tapered our best athletes yet so the rankings are not super trustworthy when it comes to our top performers. We will have more depth on the women’s side than we did in previous years.”

Essler noted she thinks her relay teams, which will compete in all five relays on both sides, will have a chance to score higher this year. Halloran is listed to compete in them all on the women’s side, while Sterling Burnett and Javin Williams will compete in all but one on the men’s side.

The national championships are set to begin Wednesday at 11 a.m. with the 800 free relays. Action will continue Thursday, Friday and Saturday with preliminaries set for 9 a.m. and finals set for 5 p.m. The final session of the meet will be Saturday beginning at 5 p.m.

For the complete list of Milligan swimmers and their events, please see below.

Women
Jordan Clark – 100 Fly, 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay
Sara Farmer – 50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Back, 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay
Lindsey Grow – 200 Medley Relay, 200 IM, 400 IM, 400 Medley Relay
Margaret Halloran – 100 Back, 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 200 Back, 400 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay, 500 Free, 800 Free Relay
Anna Hathcock – 50 Free, 200 Free Relay, 200 Fly
Maci Montgomery – 800 Free, 1650 Free
Kaylee Propst – 800 Free Relay
Anna Whitfield – 400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay

Men
Jarod Blazo – 200 Back, 800 Free Relay
Sterling Burnett – 100 Free, 100 Back, 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay
Isaac Etherton – 100 Fly, 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 200 Fly, 400 Medley Relay, 500 Free
Logan Garzonio – 100 Back, 400 Free Relay
Brock Jerpseth – 100 Fly, 200 Medley Relay
Elijah Manship – 200 Medley Relay, 400 Medley Relay
Matthew McFalls – 50 Free, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay
Javin Williams – 50 Free, 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay