MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (May 20, 2006) --- The Milligan College men's and women's track teams are setting their sights on the upcoming NAIA Track & Field National Championships held at Fresno Pacific University, in Fresno, Calif., from May 25-27. The women's team will send three athletes to participate while the men's team will field two athletes for Milligan.
"Track and Field at the NAIA level is more competitive each year," said Milligan head coach Chris Layne. "We are simply hoping to improve on our individual performances and see where that lands us overall."
Milligan will send three seniors to their last NAIA National Championship. Five-time All-American Megan Lease (Camden, N.C.), Indoor All-American Chris Wright (Ocean City, Md.) and Brandon Talbert (Mt. Carmel, Tenn.) will wear the Milligan uniform one last time. The trio has combined for a total of 25 National Championship appearances during their collegiate running careers.
"Our three seniors competing in Fresno have meant a great deal to the overall development of our program," said Layne. "I am grateful to have had the chance to work with each one of them"
Lease will compete in her 11th NAIA National Championship while at Milligan. She will compete in the marathon. Lease enters the event ranked eighth, with a half-marathon qualifying time of 1:28.12. She qualified for the championships in November, at the Mistletoe Half-Marathon in Winston-Salem, N.C. Lease earned All-American honors with a 15th place finish at the 2005 NAIA Cross Country National Championships.
Wright qualified in the 5,000 meters last Saturday, May 13 in Nashville, as he ran 15:03.96, a new Milligan record. He enters the national championships ranked 29th in the event. During the 2006 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships, Wright earned All-American honors in the 3,000 meters. He also competed at the NAIA Cross Country National Championship in the Fall of 2005, finishing 59th. Wright will be competing in his12th NAIA National Championship.
Talbert will compete in the marathon. He qualified in March with a time of 1:15.25. His qualifying run came in Knoxville, Tenn. This will be Talbert's second national championship appearance during his senior year. In the Fall, like Wright, Talbert competed at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships.
Kortney Goulds (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Jacklyn Talbert (Mt. Carmel, Tenn.) make their third NAIA National Championship appearance this year. Both will run the 1,500 meters. Goulds, a sophomore, and Talbert, a freshman, both competed in the Cross Country and Indoor Track & Field National Championships.
Talbert qualified with a time of 4:45.06, while Goulds ran 4:45.52 to qualify. Talbert qualified last Saturday in Nashville, while Goulds qualified at the Milligan College Open earlier in the season.
The Talbert family will compete together in Fresno for Milligan. Siblings Brandon and Jacklyn will race at the same collegiate meet one last time.
With five National Qualifiers for Fresno, during the 2005-2006 athletic year, Milligan's cross country, indoor and outdoor track teams have combined to send 22 athletes to compete at the National Championships, with two earning All-American honors.