The Malone College women’s basketball team secured a berth in the American Mideast Conference Qualifying Tournament with a 67-57 victory over Mt. Vernon Nazarene University at home last Tuesday.  The Pioneers then closed out their regular season with a 93-70 loss at home to Cedarville University (30-1), the #1 NAIA Div. II team.  With a final overall record of 17-12 and an AMC South mark of 10-8, Malone has earned the AMC South #3 seed and will face AMC North #2 seed Seton Hill (PA) University (20-10, 13-5 AMC North) on Tuesday (Feb. 22nd) at 6:00 p.m. in a first-round away contest.  NOTE:  Because the high school gymnasium that Seton Hill uses during the regular season is not regulation size, this playoff contest will be played at nearby St. Vincent College (12 miles east of Seton Hill College on Route 30 near Greensburg, PA).
     Against MVNU, Malone held a slim advantage at the half (32-30) and held the Cougars to just 27.3% shooting in the second stanza to earn the 67-57 win.  Michelle Ling (Sr., Hiland H.S.) exploded for 28 points (8-12 FG, 5-8 3-PT FG, 7-7 FT) to lead all scorers.  Nikki Parson (So., Garaway H.S.) posted 12 points followed by Shauna Masonbrink (Sr., Canton South H.S.) with 10 points.  The sister duo of N. Parson and Ashley Parson (Fr., Garaway H.S.) grabbed a total of 18 boards (a team-high nine apiece) as Malone edged the Cougars in rebounds 36-34.  In addition, Erica Mishler (So., Hiland H.S.) and N. Parson tallied four steals apiece.
     Against Cedarville, the Pioneers trailed 48-23 at halftime before falling 93-70 as the Yellow Jackets shot 60% from the field, including 81.8% (9-11) from behind the arc. Ling paced Malone with 21 points followed by N. Parson and Kellyn Murphy (Fr., St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S.) with 13 points each. 
     This week, Malone (17-12), the #3 AMC South seed will face #2 AMC North seed Seton Hill (PA) University (20-10) on Tuesday (6:00 p.m.) in a first-round AMC Qualifying Tournament game.  NOTE:  Because the high school gymnasium that Seton Hill uses during the regular season is not regulation size, this playoff contest will be played at nearby St. Vincent College (12 miles east of Seton Hill College on Route 30 near Greensburg, PA). 
     With a win against Seton Hill, the Pioneers would face the winner of the St. Vincent (PA) College (#4 North) at Shawnee State University (#1 South) game in an AMC semifinal contest on Saturday (at 7:30 p.m. at the site of the higher seed).
     This week’s opponent: Seton Hill - Malone holds a 5-3 advantage over Seton Hill in the all-time series although Seton Hill edged Malone 73-70 in a regular-season meeting earlier this season (12/20/04) at Seton Hill.
     Malone notes:  Michelle Ling leads the team in scoring at 20.0 points per game (4th in AMC) followed by Nikki Parson at 18.4 per contest...N. Parson tops the squad in rebounds at 9.2 per contest (4th in AMC)… Ling also paces the team in assists at 4.0 per game while N. Parson leads the team and the conference in free throw percentage at 87.4%... Malone ranks first in the AMC in free throw percentage at 77.1%.

Men's Track & Field Team Takes Third At NCCAA Indoor Nationals, Women Place Fifth; Race Walkers Qualify At Ohio Northern Meet

     The Malone College men's and women's indoor track & field teams competed at the NCCAA National Indoor Championships in Findlay, Ohio last Saturday as the Malone men finished third among a 12-team field and the Pioneer women placed fifth among 12 teams.
     The Malone men tallied 100.10 points for its third-place finish as Greenville (IL) College took the men's title with 129 points.  Cedarville University placed second (106.20), Bethel (IN) College was fourth (74.50) and Roberts Wesleyan (NY) College rounded out the top five with 73 points.
     The Malone women's team racked up 87 points for fifth place as Olivet Nazarene University won the women's national title with 117 points.  Roberts Wesleyan and Cedarville tied for the runner-up spot with 111 points while Indiana Wesleyan took fourth with 88 points, just one point ahead of Malone.
     For the men's team, three individual national titles were earned by two athletes as Ray Weisenbarger (Jr., Troy Christian H.S.) captured two events - the shot put with a meet record (and NAIA qualifying mark) of 15.70 meters and the weight throw with a new Malone and meet record (NAIA qualifier) toss of 16.47 meters (54' 1/2").  Leo Kormanik (Jr., Akron Ellet H.S.) also took home an individual national title with a winning time of 15:14.17 in the 5000 meters (in which the Malone men went 1-2-3-4).  Numerous other athletes pocketed top-five finishes in their respective events as listed below.
     Bryan Straniero (Jr., Berkshire H.S.) earned the lone second-place finish for the Malone men -- in the 5000 meters in a time of 15:16.04.
     Third-place finishers included Ryan Kienzle (Fr., GlenOak H.S.) in the 3000 meters (8:45.43), Dave Gramlich in the 5000 meters (15:24.10), Jason Conklin (Fr., Cuba, NY) in the high jump (1.98 meters, NAIA provisional qualifier) and the men's distance medley relay team of Joe Siebert (Fr., Sandy Valley H.S.), Roger Herstine (Sr., Canton South H.S.), Tyler Lunn (Fr., McDonald, OH) and Mike Coates (Fr., Sandy Valley H.S.) in a time of 10:54.21.
     Justin Baum (Fr., Chagrin Falls H.S.) turned in the only fourth place finish for the Pioneer men -- in the 5000 meters (15:37.44; NAIA provisional).

     Fifth-place finishers for the men included Curtis Mortenson (Jr., Kodiak, Alaska) in the 3000 meters (8:54.36) and two relay teams -- the 4x400-meter unit of Adam Huffman (Jr., Crestwood H.S.), Chris Cruise (Fr., Field H.S.), Jason Brueckner (Fr., Crestview H.S.) and Tim Walter (Jr., West Muskingum H.S.) in 3:32.21 and the 4x800-meter team of Chris Patterson (Fr., Morgan H.S.), Herstine, Ryan Cook (Sr., Cranberry Twp., PA) and Nathan Hughes (So., Worthington Christian H.S.) in 8:37.24.
     In addition, Matt Orwick (Fr., East Canton H.S.) posted an NAIA provisional qualifying time of 9:03.93 in the 3000 meters (10th place).
     For the Malone women, while no athlete earned an individual national title, four athletes and one relay team posted runner-up finishes.  Second-place finishers were Brooke Gasser (So., Norwayne H.S.) in the 55-meter dash (7.44; NAIA provisional), Amy Arnold (Jr., CVCA) in the 3000 meters (10:16.58; NAIA auto), Sarah Decker (Sr., Pandora-Gilboa H.S.) in the 5000 meters (18:24.97; NAIA auto), Aubree Horning (Fr., Salem H.S.) in the shot put (12.04 meters) and the 4x200-meter relay team of Kristina Barrett (Jr., Licking Valley H.S.), Sarah Culverhouse (So., East Canton H.S.), Brittany Davies (So., Cedarville H.S.) and Gasser in a time of 1:48.59, which was a new Malone record (old record was 1:49.33).
     Third-place finishers included Davies in the 800 meters (2:18.95; NAIA auto) and the 4x400-meter relay unit of Barrett, Davies, Gasser and Laura McElrath (Fr., Tallmadge H.S.) in 4:10.48.

     Carrie Hart (So., LaBrae H.S.) earned a fourth-place finish (in the 5000 meters in 18:52.88) as did Sarah Nagle (Jr., Lakeside H.S.) in the triple jump (10.36 meters).
     Fifth-place finishers included Joanna Genter (So., Crestview H.S.) in the 3000 meters (10:24.22; NAIA auto) and Ashley Currence (So., East Canton H.S.) in the long jump (5.01 meters) while the women's distance medley relay team of Davies, Barrett, Laura Boatwright (Berkshire H.S.) and Loren Reineke (So., Anna H.S.) also took fifth in a time of 13:23.94.
     In addition, Erin Brown (Jr., Revere H.S.) tied a Malone record in the pole vault with a leap of 10' 0".
     Malone also sent several athletes to the Ohio USATF Indoor Race Walk Championships at Ohio Northern University last Saturday.  Ashley Thomas (Jr., Kodiak, AK) led the way with a third-place finish in the 3,000-meter race walk in a Malone record time of 16:16.5, which is currently the #1 time in the NAIA this season.  Lindsay Hipp (Jr., Amherst H.S.), who had also previously qualified for NAIA nationals, posted another qualifying time of 18:24.2 while Brittani Lyons (So., Elizabeth City, NC) secured a spot at the NAIA national meet with a time of 19:09.0. 
     In the men's 3,000-meter race walk event, Nathan Hughes qualified for NAIA Nationals by posting a time of 17:30.09.
     This week, the Malone men's and women's teams will compete at the Mt. Union College Invitational on Saturday (11:00 a.m.).