MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Dec. 4, 2014) – The road to Geneva, Ohio, for the 2015 NAIA National Championships starts Saturday when the Milligan College men’s and women’s track & field teams open the season at the JDL Fast Track Kickoff in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Of the seven Buffaloes that earned national qualifiers last season, five return this season, including two of the top milers in the nation in All-American senior Christian Brewer and sophomore Taylor Tafelsky. The last time Brewer competed in the mile in a collegiate event, he ran to a tune of 4:11.68, his fastest time of last season, and took seventh overall at the national event last March.
Tafelsky, who was ranked as the top true freshman in the nation in 2014, took 12th overall in the mile at last year’s National Championships.
Hannah Segrave is one of the top returners on the women’s side after a freshman year that saw the Middlesbrough, UK, native earn a spot as one of the top freshman 800-meter females in the nation in 2014. Segrave and fellow UK native Joey Watson (Godalming, Surrey, UK) will combine to bring high expectations and an international flavor to the 2014-15 track season.
Watson came from overseas as the No. 2-ranked junior shot-putter in the UK last year. Since the starting of the program in 2000, Milligan’s throws crews have recorded 20 All-American honors, and Watson certainly looks to add to that number.
Milligan’s upcoming indoor season will be highlighted by several trips to the Carolinas as well as trips to Virginia and Alabama. The Buffaloes will compete in two local events, both hosted by East Tennessee State University. The first will be Jan. 16-17 for the ETSU Invitational. The second will be Feb. 6-7 for the ETSU Indoor Open.
The national championships are slated for March 5 in Geneva, Ohio, and outdoor season will follow shortly thereafter.
For the first-time in program history, the Buffaloes will line up two multievent athletes during the indoor season in sophomore Tanner Cox (Seymour) and freshman Katie May (Elizabethton). May ranked as one of the top high school multieventers in the state of Tennessee during her senior season with the Cyclones.
