The track and field team continued their impressive year with a new personal record from junior Taylor Tafelsky. Tafelsky’s new PR also set the current fastest time in the NAIA for the 1,500 meter run.

 

Tafelsky’s time of 3:52.01 is only three seconds behind Phillip Rotich’s school record Rotich set in 2002. It’s also 1.49 seconds faster than the National A Standard.

 

After qualifying for the National Championship, Tafelsky picked up right where he left off in the indoor season, where he was an NAIA All-American. Tafelsky has earned three All-American honors in his junior year, matching Rotich’s performance when he was here at Milligan.

 

In the same race--just one day later--junior Hannah Segrave finished third overall, giving her a strong start to her outdoor season.

 

Segrave’s time of 2:07.98 in the 800 meter run was only a second slower than her indoor national championship time. This time was also her fastest ever outdoor opener by almost five seconds.

 

Segrave and Tafelsky weren’t the only stars in the track and field world, though. Just a week after the runners opened their outdoor season with a bang, freshman Mark Stair set the school record for the high jump with a jump of 2.05 meters.

 

Stair broke Gary Nicholson’s record of 1.98 meters--which Nicholson set in 1964. This jump allowed Stair to finish second overall in the competition, and qualify for outdoor nationals with a B standard.

 

Track team continues to set a high standard in all of their competitions getting great performances out of a variety of players. The goal, as it was during indoor season, is the national championships, and the athletes at Milligan have proven that they’re more than capable of this lofty goal.

Tafelsky Leads Track Team in Dominance

By Jacob Smith

4.14.16