Milligan College Buffaloes

Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Jan. 26, 2008) --- The Milligan College men's and women's track and field teams again found success in Middle Tennessee. The men's and women's squads added seven more national qualifying marks for the NAIA Indoor National Championships this coming March in Johnson City at the Middle Tennessee Classic in Murfreesboro.

Senior All-American MacKenzie LaBonte (Port Charlotte, Fla.) started the day off with a third place finish in the women's mile in a national qualifying time of 5:05.73. Junior Nicole Moore (Boise, Idaho.) finished eighth in the mile in 5:16.42, also a national qualifying time and new lifetime best.

Junior Jacklyn Talbert (Mt. Carmel, Tenn.) finished fourth in the 800 meters with an indoor best time of 2:19:00, while senior Brittany Bales (Kingsport, Tenn.) ran to a new lifetime best of 2:20.12. Both marks were also national qualifiers. In the women's 3000 meters, sophomore Rebecca McDowell (Mechanicsville, Va.) finished second with a new personal best and national qualifying time of 10:20.44, while junior Ashley Pearce (St. Cloud, Fla.) ran to a national mark and new personal best time of 10:24.58, good for third place in the race.

The Lady Buffs also received strong performances from senior Erika Fox (Gambrills, Md.), seventh in the women's 3k, and freshman Lili Zaldana (Bristol, Tenn.) who finished 11th in the women's mile overall, but second in her heat.

Junior Jamal Phelps (Phoenix, Ariz.) led Milligan's men with a fifth place finish in the men's triple jump. A former junior college All-American, Phelps used an early jump to get his national qualifying mark out of the way. Junior Wegene Degefa (Rochester, N.Y.) finished third in both the men's mile and 3k. His times of 4:22.73 and 8:53.33 were just shy of the national qualifying times.

Sophomore Justin Westerman (Franklin, N.C.) finished 10th in the men's shot put and recorded a new personal best throw.

In the men's 800 meters, sophomore Aaron Wood (Aurora, Colo.) looked well on his way to a national qualifier, but a hard fall mid-race caused by a tight pack of athletes took him out of the race. Despite the fall, Wood got back up and finished eighth overall. Freshman Michael Kaal (Gilbert, Ariz.) finished 10th in a new personal best mark.

"This was one of our better all-around team performances, and we still have tons of room to improve," said head coach Chris Layne.