GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Carson Milner had plenty of reason to feel accomplished following a great fall season with the Midway cross country program.

After multiple agonizing near misses in his first two college seasons, Milner finally achieved his goal of running at a national race, qualifying for the NAIA Cross Country Championships following a fourth-place run at the River States Championships.

But Milner, who also had a seventh-place, All-American run at the NAIA Marathon in December, still entered the indoor track and field season with a bad taste in his mouth, as some close calls in previous seasons still lingered in his memory.

In 2024, he missed an outdoor national qualifying time in the 1,500-meter run by just 1.56 seconds, finishing in 3:55.66. Then, in 2025, he cut nearly a second-and-a-half off his previous time in the same event, running a 3:54.17, but again fell short of the new standard time of 3:52.

"Hitting a time standard (would've felt more like) getting the load off my back," Milner said. "With cross country, it's still position-based and you can race your way in."

At first glance, it may have appeared Milner was going to suffer a similar fate in the 2026 indoor season, this time in the 3,000-meter run.

In a second-place finish at the RSC Indoor Championships in February, he ran an 8:30.57, which would have been shy of the qualifying 'B' standard of 8:26.

But in a turn of good fortune, a 200-meter flat stretch on the track resulted in his time being converted to 8:24.70, good enough to get him in as the No. 12 seed at the 2026 Indoor National Championships.

Making the achievement all the more significant is that the standard for the race was so strong, more than half the 50-man field failed to reach it, instead earning at-large bids to nationals.

And as he prepares to hit the course, Milner says he's allowing himself to be "maybe a little unrealistic" with his goals.

"I'd like to win more than anything," he said. 

The 3,000-meter run will be held on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. The 2026 Indoor National Championships are being held at the Alachua County Sports & Events Center in Gainesville, Fla.