Lady Buffs take team title at UC Invite

Milligan College, Tenn. (Apr. 13, 2008) --- The Milligan College men's and women's track and field teams completed a busy weekend at both the University of Tennessee's Sea Ray Relays and the University of the Cumberland's Invitational.

At the Sea Ray Relays on Friday afternoon, the Milligan women's 4 x 1500 meter relay team of Jacklyn Talbert (Mt. Carmel, Tenn.), Brittany Bales (Kingsport, Tenn.), MacKenzie LaBonte (Port Charlotte, Fla.) and Nicole Moore (Boise, Idaho.) ran to a third place finish and school record behind the University of Wisconsin and UT-Chattanooga. The Lady Buffs bettered relay squads from Milwaukee-Wisconsin and Middle Tennessee State. The lone Milligan male athlete to compete at Sea Ray was Wegene Degefa (Rochester N.Y.), who finished ninth overall in the men's open 5000 meters.

On Saturday both squads traveled to Williamsburg , Kentucky for the University of the Cumberland 's Invitational. Senior All-American Bales started off the afternoon with a dominating win in the women's 1500 meter run with a time of 4:52.32. Bales was followed in second place by junior All-American Moore in 4:54.75, while junior Kortney Goulds (Johnson City, Tenn.) finished fifth with a season best time of 4:59.65. Junior Kim Hogan (Springfield, Va.) recorded a new personal best in the event. In the men's 1500 meters, freshmen Nathan Bordelon (Kissimmee, Fla.) and James Butcher (Marietta, Ga.) both finished in the top twenty with new personal best times.

The women's 800 meters showcased junior All-American Talbert who didn't disappoint. Talbert won the event easily with a season best time of 2:17.03. Teammates Shanna Raines (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Kayla Moody (Avon, Ind.) finished third and fourth with lifetime best marks of 2:28.15 and 2:29.13 respectively. In the men's 800 meters, freshman Michael Kaal (Gilbert Ariz.) finished sixth overall.

The Lady Buffs had their strongest showing in the women's 5000 meters where they took the top five spots. Senior LaBonte simply ran away from the field with a national qualifying mark of 18:01.11. Junior Ashley Pearce (St. Cloud, Fla.) recorded a new outdoor best time of 18:34.59 to finish second, while sophomore Rebecca McDowell (Mechanicsville, Va.) was third in 18:39.47. Freshman Lili Zaldana (Bristol, Tenn.) finished fourth in a new lifetime best of 18:43.13, as did junior Emily Schmitt (Avon, Ind.) who crossed the line in fifth in 18:46.97.

In the throwing events, freshman Chelsea Leavell (Springfield, Tenn.) continues to have a strong freshman campaign as she finished second in both the shot put and the discus throw. Freshman Mike Kimson (Elizabethton, Tenn.) finished third in a competitive men's discus throw with a mark of 41.78 meters.

Freshman Kayli Bates (Wise, Va.) finished third in the women's triple jump and sixth in the long jump, while teammate Lyndsay Oltmann (Johnstown, Ohio.) also grabbed a top ten spot in the women's long jump. In the men's triple jump, junior Jamal Phelps (Chicago, Ill.), an indoor national qualifier, finished second with an outdoor national qualifying mark of 14.14m.

"Most of our squad only competed in one or two events in preparation for the AAC meet next weekend and I was really pleased with the effort across the board," said head coach Chris Layne.

Milligan's women won the team title with 92.0 points, followed in second by the University of the Cumberland 's with 90.5 points. Eastern Kentucky University was third with 86 points. 16 women's teams competed in the event. Milligan's men finished 16th of 19 schools with 17 points.