BROOKINGS, S.D. (March 2, 2019) – Freshman Rasheem Brown and the Milligan College track & field team proved once again they are ready when it counts. Brown became the program’s seventh NAIA national champion, winning the 60-meter hurdles with a new NAIA championship record, and three other Buffaloes earned All-American status on the final day of the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships.

The event concluded Saturday at Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.

“We came into nationals with eight individual qualifiers combined, so to leave with a national title, a national record, five All-American honors and a 16th place finish is pretty impressive for such a small group,” Head Coach Chris Layne said. “Once again, we took a quality approach to the season in hopes that once we got to the championships, our men and women would have a chance to perform well, and they took advantage of the opportunity.”

Milligan entered the event ranked No. 29 on the men’s side and No. 26 on the women’s side before earning team finishes of No. 16 (men) and No. 28 (women). The No. 16 finish marked the highest finish for Milligan‘s men in program history, and it matched the highest finish for both the men and women.

Brown, a freshman from Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, clocked a 7.81 in the 60 hurdles to break his own NAIA championship record on the way to winning the event by one-tenth of a second. He became Milligan‘s seventh individual NAIA national champion and sixth in the last three years. Brown followed sophomore Nathan Baker (indoor 3000 meters in 2018) as the only two male national champions, both winning their titles as freshmen.

“I’m really proud of Rasheem and the composure he showed for a freshman,” Layne said. “He had his sights set on running fast, and it was awesome to see that play out for both him and (Assistant Coach BT Pham). BT has done a great job with not only Rasheem, but our entire sprints, jumps and hurdles crew.”

Sophomore Tim Thacker had the next highest finish for Milligan and was one spot away from a national title of his own. With a personal best 4:12.94 in the mile, Thacker was the NAIA national championship runner-up, second only to Shawnee State junior Seth Farmer, who won it in 4:11.79.

“Tim basically missed an entire year due to illness but he has definitely bounced back, and to be honest, I’m not surprised. We thought he had this type of potential,” Layne said. “He’s a smart kid and when you give him a plan, there’s confidence he’ll execute.”

Junior Erica Stone and freshman Gabrielle Mardis highlighted the women’s running events for Milligan as All-Americans in the 1k and 3k, respectively. Stone ran to fifth place in a season-best 2:59.13, defending her All-American result from 2018. Mardis covered the 3k in a personal best 10:25.08 to grab sixth overall as the nation’s second fastest freshman.

“I thought Erica and Gabby looked great today,” Layne said. “They both stayed patient early on in races that got stretched out from the gun, and both were able to move well in the second half and pick folks off.”

In the field events, senior Liz Maller and junior Tons Ferguson narrowly missed the final of the shot put and triple jump, respectively. Maller finished 10th with a toss of 13.47 meters; Ferguson landed 16th with a mark of 14.07 meters. Maller was coming off an All-American finish in Friday’s weight throw, marking the second time in her career she achieved such status.

“I know Liz was disappointed not to make the shot put final today, but that was her third-best throw all-time and she was coming off such a big day prior with her weight throw performance that sometimes the emotions of a big effort can be a factor the next day,” Layne said. “She’s had such a great run and I know this will give her a little more fire heading into outdoors.”

In all, Maller (Friday’s weight throw), Brown (60 hurdles), Thacker (mile), Stone (1k) and Mardis (3k) brought Milligan‘s cross country and track & field program’s All-American count to 84 since the program restarted in 1999. The Buffs earned five All-Americans at this year’s indoor national championship event.

Milligan‘s outdoor season is set to begin in two weeks with trips to Charlotte and Hickory, North Carolina, for the 49er Classic and Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational. The NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships are Thursday-Saturday, May 23-25, in Gulf Shores, Alabama.