Milligan College Buffaloes

JOHNSON CITY, TENN. (Mar, 27, 2008) --- Olympic couple Ato Stephens and Cydonie Mothersill didn't disappoint spectators during the second year of the resurrected Milligan Relays. Mothersill ran to a convincing win in the women's 400 meters with a spectacular time of 53.15, the fastest-ever time on the Liberty Bell oval, while Stephens picked up dominating victories in both the 400 meters and 200 meters.

The Milligan College men's and women's squads also had a successful day.

On the women's side, junior All-American Jacklyn Talbert (Mt. Carmel, Tenn.) won the 800 meters and 1500 meters, and ran the lead-off leg of the winning 4 x 400 meter relay. The Lady Buffs took the top five spots in both the 1500 meters and 800 meters. Sophomore Rebecca McDowell (Mechanicsville, Tenn.) ran to a school record and national qualifier in the women's 10,000 meters with a time of 38:46.49. Juniors Ashley Pearce (St. Cloud, Fla.) and Emily Schmitt (Avon Ind.) finished second and third behind McDowell, who ran alone the last five miles of the race.

Freshman Chelsea Leavell (Springfield, Tenn.) won the women's shot put, and finished second in the women's discus, while junior All-American Nicole Moore (Boise, Idaho.) grabbed second in both the 800 meters and 1500 meters. Freshman Kayli Bates (Wise, Va.) was second in the long jump, while freshman Lili Zaldana (Bristol, Va.) finished fourth in the 1500 meters and 3rd in the 800 meters. Freshman Kayla Moody (Avon, Ind.) finished second in the women's 400 meters and ran the second leg on the 4 x 400 meter relay.

Milligan's men also found success across the board. Freshman Mike Kimson (Elizabethton, Tenn.) broke the meet record in the men's discus set last year by ETSU's Jarod Burton. Kimson won with a throw of 41.98 meters. Sophomore Aaron Wood (Aurora, Colo.) ran to an easy win in the men's 800 meters, while junior Wegene Degefa (Rochester, N.Y.) stepped down from his marathon training to finish second in the 1500 meters just one second shy of ETSU standout Kenneth Rotich. Junior Jamal Phelps (Chicago, Ill.) , an indoor national qualifier in the triple jump, started the outdoor season off with a third place finish in the long jump.

Both squads are idle before traveling to the University of Tennessee's Sea Ray Relays and the University of the Cumberlands Invitational April 11-12.