Women's Track & Field Captures AMC Title; Men Place Third

     The Malone College women's track & field team captured the American Mideast Conference Championship, hosted by Cedarville University, last Friday and Saturday among a nine-team field while the Pioneer men took third place among their nine-team field.  In addition, four Malone women pocketed individual event titles while two Pioneer men did the same.
     The Malone women tallied 163 points to outdistance runner-up Roberts Wesleyan (NY) College, which finished with 134 points, by 29 points.  Cedarville placed third with 131 points, Geneva (PA) College was fourth (106) and the University of Rio Grande rounded out the top five with 100 points.
     In the men's competition, Malone finished with 145 points, just 11 points behind runner-up Cedarville, which had 156 points.  Tiffin University took the men's team title with 185 points.  Roberts Wesleyan finished in fourth place with 90 points and Geneva rounded out the top five with 88.5 points.
     For the women, Sarah Decker (Sr., Pandora Gilboa H.S.) captured the 10,000 meters in a time of 39:00.52 while Joanna Genter (So., Crestview H.S.) won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:31.44.  Other event winners for the Pioneer women were Megan Gasparin (Jr., Renfrew, PA), who took the hammer throw with a toss of 38.70 meters, and Ashley Thomas (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) who won the 3,000-meter race walk in 16:11.00.
     Second-place finishers for the women included Amy Arnold (Jr., CVCA) in the 5000 meters (19:23.39), Laura McElrath (Fr., Tallmadge H.S.) in the high jump (4' 8") and the women's 4x800-meter relay team of Arnold, Brittany Davies (So., Cedarville H.S.), Genter and Loren Reineke (So., Anna H.S.) in a time of 9:24.07.
     Third-place finishers were Brooke Gasser (So., Norwayne H.S.) in the 100-meter dash (13.53), Davies in the 800 meters (2:27.11), Genter in the 5000 meters (19:24.19), Carrie Hart (So., LaBrae H.S.) in the 10,000 meters (39:41.89) and McElrath in the 100-meter hurdles (16.51).
     For the men, Dave Gramlich (Sr., Cuyahoga Falls H.S.) earned the individual title in the 5000 meters in a time of 15:42.30 as he won in dramatic fashion, by just .24 seconds, over runner-up and teammate Leo Kormanik (Jr., Akron Ellet H.S.), who posted a time of 15:42.54 in the event. 
     Ray Weisenbarger (Jr., Troy Christian H.S.) took the other individual event championship for the Malone men as he won the hammer throw with a toss of 48.26 meters.  Weisenbarger also placed second in both the shot put (48' 11") and the discus (134' 6").
     Other runners-up in an event for the Pioneer men were Bryan Straniero (Jr., Berkshire H.S.) in the 10,000 meters (32:26.22) and Nate Hughes (So., Worthington Christian H.S.) in the 5,000-meter race walk (30.21.00).
     Third-place finishers for the men included Ryan Kienzle (Fr., GlenOak H.S.) in the 5000 meters (15:53.34), Zeke Rhodes (Fr., Ft. Collins H.S.) in the javelin (45.54 meters) and the men's 4x100-meter relay team of Roger Herstine (Sr., Canton South H.S.), John Regas (Jr., Lake H.S.), Mike Wright (Fr., North Canton Hoover H.S.) and Danny Kendrick (Sr., Ravenna H.S.) in a time of 45.99 seconds (tied for third). 
     This week, the teams are idle and will next compete in the NCCAA National Championships May 5-7 in Marion, Indiana.

Men's Golf Team Wins Indiana Wesleyan's NAIA Classic, Malone Invitational

     The Malone College baseball team defeated Myers University 11-3 and 13-7 last Tuesday in a twin bill played at Myers and then fell to Tiffin University at home last Thursday by scores of 4-2 and 8-5.   Malone's doubleheader at Tiffin last Saturday was cancelled due to the weather.   With the 2-2 week, Malone is now 24-21 overall and 12-8 in the AMC North.
     In the opener at Myers, the Pioneers posted 11 runs on 13 hits in the 11-3 win.  Troy Richeson (Fr., Minerva H.S.) paced the offense with four hits, an RBI and one run scored.  Andy Wise (Jr., CVCA) added two hits, including a double, and scored three runs while Billy Kern (Sr., Pompano Beach, FL) cracked a home run and posted three RBI’s.  Zach Winkhart (Fr., Fr., Central Catholic H.S.) was the starting pitcher and earned his second win on the year (5IP, 3H, 1R, 3BB, 1SO). 
     In the nightcap at Myers, Malone recorded 13 runs on 17 hits in the 13-7 victory.  Winkhart was three-for-four, including a home run and four RBI’s followed by Brian King (Fr., Shelby H.S.), who was three-for-four, including two doubles, three runs scored and an RBI.  Richeson went three-for-three, including a double, a run scored and an RBI followed by Kern with two hits (one triple), three runs scored and an RBI.  On the mound, Jay Yorty (Fr., Lisbon David Anderson H.S.) earned his third victory (4IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1SO).
     Against Tiffin in game one, Malone gave up four runs on nine hits while recording just two runs on four hits in the 4-2 loss.  Korey Heppeard (Jr., Van Wert H.S.) absorbed the loss after pitching the complete game (7IP, 9H, 4R, 4ER, 3BB, 6SO).  Kern led the offense with a double and a run scored.
     In the nightcap against Tiffin, the Pioneers posted five runs on six hits but gave up eight runs on 11 hits and committed three errors in the 8-5 defeat.  Anthony Barson (Jr., Timken H.S.) took the loss allowing seven runs on six hits in three innings pitched.  Novak tallied a single, a triple, an RBI and two runs followed by Kern with a double, an RBI and a run.  In addition, Bourquin recorded a triple in the contest. 
     This week, Malone (24-21, 12-8 AMC N) will play a single game at Kent State University at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday.  The squad then travels to St. Vincent (PA) College on Wednesday for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader and then hosts St. Vincent at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday to close out the regular season.

 

    The Malone College women's golf team came home with a second-place finish among an eight-team field with a score of 353 at the 4th Annual Mary Louise Cleland Eckles Invitational, hosted by Westminster (PA) College, last Monday.  Gannon edged out the Pioneers by six strokes with a score of 347 for the team title.  In third, behind Malone, was Mercyhurst (PA) College with a score of 359, followed by St. Vincent (PA) College in fourth (391) and Washington & Jefferson (PA) College in fifth place (408).

    Megan Grubb (Fr., Lake H.S.) gave Malone its best individual finish by placing second overall with a score of 82 (43-39).  Heather Hall (Fr., Bellefontaine H.S.) finished sixth overall with a round of 88 (46-42) while Carie Kindler (Fr., Sheridan H.S.) and Jenna Eason (Fr., Pahrump, Nevada) finished 15th and 16th, respectively, with rounds of 96 (49-47) and 97 (47-50).  Heather Grovemiller (So., Perry H.S.) shot a 107 (54-53) for the day.
    The Pioneers' regular season has concluded but the team still has a slight chance of earning an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament in mid May, based on its performances in its spring tournaments.