Senior Riley Renaud won the women’s 1,650-yard freestyle national title to lead Milligan swim teams to a strong finish at the NAIA Swimming and Diving Championships held March 4–7 in Elkhart, Ind.
Milligan sent 24 swimmers to the national meet and finished fourth overall on the men’s side with 360 points and eighth on the women’s side with 178.
Renaud captured the title with a school-record time of 16:59.85, becoming a three-time national champion in the event.
The Buffaloes also recorded multiple runner-up finishes. Senior Caleb Fry placed second in the men’s 100 breaststroke with a school-record time of 53.43, earning his tenth career NAIA All-American honor. Fry later added another runner-up finish in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:57.37, setting another Milligan record.
Freshman Christoph Haenel also finished as the national runner-up in the men’s 100 butterfly with a school-record time of 47.49.
Milligan’s relay teams also had strong performances. The men’s 400 medley relay team of Paxton Smith, Fry, Haenel and Michael Rinaldi placed fifth while setting a school record with a time of 3:15.66. Smith, Fry, Haenel and Rinaldi also competed in the men’s 400 freestyle relay team and earned All-American honors with a fifth-place finish.
On the women’s side, Abigail Maniace earned All-American honors with a sixth-place finish in the women’s 100 butterfly, setting a Milligan record with a time of 57.07. The women’s 400 freestyle relay team of Madison Akbari, Emily Dubes, Mary Grace Bitting and Emily Newman placed seventh to earn All-American status.
Milligan swimmers set multiple school records and personal bests throughout the four-day meet, highlighting a season that included a national title, runner-up finishes and top ten team finishes.
Photo – Riley Renaud after finishing third in her 500 yard freestyle race on March 5, 2026 in Elkhart, Ind. (by Spencer Hall).
