Men's Golf Team Sets Scoring Record To Capture NAIA Region IX Title; Qualifies For NAIA Nationals

     The Malone College men's golf team, led by veteran head coach Ken Hyland, posted one of the best scores in the program's history as the squad easily captured the NAIA Region IX team championship at the Apple Valley Golf Course in Howard, Ohio last Thursday and Friday and qualified for the NAIA National Championships.
     At the 54-hole region tourney, Malone set a team scoring record for the event with a score of 872 (298-290-284) to edge the old region tourney record of 874 (285-300-291), which was set by the 2000 Malone team.  That Pioneer team went on to win the NAIA national title.  In addition, Malone's final round score of 284 (four under par) was the second lowest score in the history of the program, second only to a 281 (seven under par) that the Pioneers shot in the second round of the 2000 NAIA National Championships.
     After being up by only four strokes after the first round, Malone took this year's region title with the 872, 22 shots ahead of runners-up SUNY-Delhi (302-298-294) and Tiffin University (312-285-297), which posted scores of 894.  Fourth place went to Ohio Dominican University at 908 (306-306-296) while Walsh University rounded out the top five at 914 (305-307-302) among a 14-team NAIA Region IX and X field.
     Malone's Scotty Jones (So., East Palestine H.S.) earned NAIA Region IX and American Mideast Conference Medalist honors by posting an impressive score of 214 (74-71-69).  Jones was also named the MVP (Al Turner award) for the conference. 
     Three other Malone athletes joined Jones on the All Region and All AMC Teams -- Keith Cunningham (Sr., John Glenn H.S.), who carded a 219 (72-77-70), Aaron Strauch (Jr., Emporium, PA), who fired a 220 (77-72-71), and Matt Wabby (Sr., Pittsburgh, PA), who tallied a 222 (75-71-76).  Jordan Grubb (So., Lake H.S.) also competed for the team and posted a score of 233 (80-80-73).  In addition, Coach Hyland was named the NAIA Region IX and AMC Coach of the Year.
     This spring, Malone won every tournament that it entered except for the NCAA Div. I Eastern Kentucky University Invitational in which only 18 holes were played out of the 54 holes due to rain and snow.
     Malone is currently ranked 10th in the NAIA national poll with the final poll to be released on May 12th.  Malone will now compete in the 54-hole NAIA National Championships at the Prairie Highlands Golf Course in Olathe, Kansas May 24-27.

Women's Track & Field Captures NCCAA National Title; Men Finish Runner-Up

     The Malone College women's track & field team captured the National Christian College Athletic Association national championship last Thursday through Saturday in Marion, Indiana among a 13-team field while the men's squad finished in the runner-up spot among their 15-team field. 
     The Malone women tallied 137 points to defeat runner-up Roberts Wesleyan (NY) College, which finished with 125.33 points, by 11.67 points.  Indiana Wesleyan University placed third with 108 points, Greenville (IL) College took fourth with 107 points and Cedarville University rounded out the top five with 106 points.
     The Malone men racked up 140 points to finish runner-up, by just 15 points, to champion Greenville, which totaled 155 points.  Cedarville placed third with 123 points, Taylor (IN) University was fourth with 101 points and Roberts Wesleyan rounded out the top five with 80 points.
     For the women, the team notched seven All-American finishes (top three in an event) while one Pioneer relay team also earned All-America honors.
     Joanna Genter (So., Crestview H.S.) was one of two Malone women's athletes to win an individual NCCAA national title as she placed first in the 5000 meters in a time of 17:48.46.  The other individual national champion was Brooke Gasser (So., Norwayne H.S.) who won the heptathlon with 4457 points (100H - 16.11; HJ - 4' 6.25"; SP - 34' 11.25"; 200 - 25.89; LJ - 17' 6"; Jav. - 141' 8"; 800m - 2:45.89).
     Gasser was the lone second-place finisher in an individual event as she finished runner-up in the javelin with a toss of 134' 5".
     Third-place finishers included Amy Arnold (Jr., CVCA) in the 5000 meters (18:11.20), Lacey Watkins (So., Lockport, NY) in the 10,000 meters (38:50.14), Megan Gasparin (Jr., Renfrew, PA) in the discus (128' 7") and Laura McElrath (Fr., Tallmadge H.S.) in the heptathlon (3986 points).  In addition, the women's 4x400-meter relay team of Sarah Culverhouse (So., East Canton H.S.), Brittany Davies (So., Cedarville H.S.), Kristina Barrett (Jr., Licking Valley H.S.) and Gasser placed third in a time of 4:01.21.
     While not finishing in the top three in the 800 meters, Davies did post an impressive time of 2:16.43 in the 800 preliminaries, which was good enough to qualify her for the NAIA National Championships.  So impressive were the 800 prelims that all nine who qualified for the 800 finals at the NCCAA event posted NAIA national qualifying times.  Davies finished fourth in the finals, narrowly missing NCCAA All-America honors.
     For the Malone men, four individuals chalked up NCCAA individual national titles.  Dave Gramlich (Sr., Cuyahoga Falls H.S.) won the 5000 meters in a time of 14:57.76, Bryan Straniero (Jr., Berkshire H.S.) took the 10,000 meters in 31:56.28, Ray Weisenbarger (Jr., Troy Christian H.S.) captured the discus with a toss of 159' 1" and Brady West (So., West Muskingum H.S.) won the decathlon with 6033 points (100m - 11.83; LJ - 21' 6.75"; SP - 40' 2"; HJ - 6' 0.5"; 400m - 52.81; 110H - 17.11; disc. - 103' 1"; PV - 10' 0"; jav. - 156' 9"; 1500m - 4:47.70).
     Second-place finishers for the Malone men included Leo Kormanik (Jr., Akron Ellet H.S.) in the 5000 meters (15:04.60), Justin Baum (Fr., Kenston H.S.) in the 10,000 meters (32:00.70) and Chris Patterson (Fr., Morgan H.S.) in the decathlon (5417 points).
     Third-place finishers for the team included Cody Ford (So., Minerva H.S.) in the 200-meter dash (22.43), Weisenbarger in the hammer throw (154' 10.5") and the men's 4x400-meter relay team of Jay Brueckner (Fr., Crestview H.S.), Roger Herstine (Sr., Canton South H.S.), Chris Cruise (Fr. Field H.S.) and Ford in a time of 3:21.24.
     This week, the Malone men's and women's teams will send athletes to compete in the Geneva (PA) College Last Chance Meet in Beaver Falls, PA on Wednesday and to the All-Ohio Championships in Berea, OH on Saturday.

Baseball Concludes Season With AMC Tourney Loss To Rio Grande

     The Malone College baseball team, led by second-year head coach Tom Crank, concluded its 2005 season last weekend as the team fell to the University of Rio Grande in a best-of-three AMC Tournament first-round series on Friday and Saturday.  The Pioneers (#2 North seed) hosted games one and two on Friday, winning the first contest 14-6 against Rio (#3 South seed) and losing the nightcap 13-3 in seven innings.  Then, in a thrilling 4 1/2 hour slugfest on Saturday in the third and deciding game, Malone lost to Rio by the score of 18-16 at home in a hard-fought 10-inning game.  With the 1-2 record for the weekend playoff series, the Pioneers concluded their season with a 26-25 record overall and a 13-9 mark in the AMC North Division.
     In game one against Rio, Malone tallied 14 runs on 13 hits to cruise to the 14-6 victory.  Korey Heppeard (Jr., Van Wert H.S.) earned his seventh win on the year (8.2IP, 4H, 6R, 6ER, 6SO, 4BB) while Andy Bourquin (Sr., Canton South H.S.) paced the offense with three hits (one double), three runs and four RBI’s.  Jarrod Stahl (Jr., Kenmore H.S.) was two-for-three with two runs scored while Ronnie Lewis (Sr., Rootstown H.S.) added two hits and Zach Winkhart (Fr., Central Catholic H.S.) and Jason Verner (Sr., West Palm Beach, FL) each cracked a home run.
     In the nightcap on Friday, the Pioneers posted just three runs on five hits and committed five errors in the 13-3 loss.  Anthony Barson (Jr., Timken H.S.) took the loss giving up nine hits and 10 runs in five innings pitched.  Lewis and Bourquin each doubled for Malone.
     In the final contest on Saturday, after trailing 8-1after two innings, Malone (the visiting team due to a coin flip) cut the lead to 9-7 after five innings as Scott Taylor (Fr., Lake H.S.) hit a pair of three-run homers in the third and fifth innings, respectively.  Malone took the lead 10-9 after six and extended its advantage to 11-9 after seven innings.  Rio went ahead 13-11 with four runs in the bottom of the eighth but the Pioneers came back to score five runs in the top of the ninth inning to grab a 16-13 lead.  Rio managed to score three runs in the bottom of the ninth, though, to tie the game at 16-16 and send the game into extra innings.  Malone did not score in the top of the 10th and then Rio blasted a two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to post the dramatic 18-16 win.  Winkhart absorbed the loss after pitching the final 2.1 innings (5H, 7R, 4ER, 2SO, 3BB).  Offensively, Stahl was four-for-five with one RBI and three runs scored followed by Scott Taylor with three hits (two home runs), six RBI’s and two runs scored.  Lewis also tallied three hits, including a double and a triple and scored four runs.