Seniors Sarah Walsh and Gabe Hunigan swam in the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse pool for the last time as members of the Milligan College swimming team, and Head Coach Jes Sutton coached the Buffs at home for the last time at Friday's senior meet against West Virginia University Tech.
Walsh, from Noblesville, Indiana, finished up a four-year swimming career; Hunigan, out of Gray, Tennessee, finished up a single season of Milligan swimming; and Sutton, who announced during the fall that he would retire after this season, finished his second full season as the team's head coach.
Friday's meet saw Milligan take home two race wins and a national B cut time. Junior Casey Knapp and sophomore Emily Mark were the winners, both in the free style. Knapp earned first place in the 50 free with a time of 30.84 and Mark was the winner in the 100 free in 1:08.69.
Junior Grant Callahan took second in the 50 free with a time of 24.96, nabbing a B cut for national qualifying standards.
"I am very pleased with the results of this meet," said Kelly Chism, who currently serves as Sutton's assistant coach and will be taking over the program as head coach after this season. "We had a national cut time that we did not expect. We also won two races which is impressive considering (West Virginia University Tech) is twice our size.
"A lot of people dropped time this meet so I am very proud of our swimmers and I look forward to what conference will hold next month."
With the home season complete, the Buffs will be on the road for one final meet on Saturday, Jan. 30, before turning their attention to the Appalachian Swimming Conference and the NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championships. The conference meet is scheduled for Feb. 11-13 in Christiansburg, Virginia, and the national championships are scheduled for March 2-5 in Columbus, Georgia.
