2007 Outdoor Season Recap
Men’s Track & Field Places 12th At NAIA Outdoor Nationals, Women 36th; Six Pioneers Earn All-America HonorsMalone College men’s and women’s track & field, led by head coach Charlie Grimes, has had numerous outstanding campaigns through the years but not many better than the most recent ’07 outdoor campaign in which the men’s and women’s teams sent a school-record 37 athletes (20 men, 17 women) to the NAIA Outdoor National Championships in Fresno, California in late May. In addition, five men’s athletes earned the prestigious All-America honor, which is just one accolade short of the men’s school-record six outdoor All-America honors garnered by the 1990, 1991 and 1993 men’s teams. One Pioneer women’s athlete also took home All-America recognition (see individual performances section).
As far as team finishes at the NAIA national outdoor event, the Malone men finished in a tie for 12th place among 65 teams that scored points while the women's team finished in a tie for 36th place among 61 teams.
The Pioneer men tallied 26 meet points to finish in a tie with Olivet Nazarene (IL) University for 12th place. Oklahoma Baptist University claimed the men's national title with 77 points followed by Dickinson State (ND) University with 58 and Azusa Pacific (CA) University with 51.
In the women's competition, Malone posted six meet points to finish in a six-way tie for 36th place. Azusa Pacific won the women's national championship after accumulating 73 points. Fellow American Mideast Conference member Cedarville University finished second with 58 points and Oklahoma Baptist took third place with 55 points.
Three weeks prior to the NAIA national event, the Malone men captured their first NCCAA national title since 1991 at the NCCAA National Championships in Upland, Indiana among a 14-team field while the Pioneer women finished as national runners-up among their 13-team field.
The men posted a dramatic one-point victory as they tallied 127 points to edge runner-up Cedarville University, which had 126 points. Greenville (IL) College took third at 118. The Malone women posted 163.5 points for their second-place finish as Cedarville won the women's national title with 177 points. Indiana Wesleyan placed third at 106. In addition, three Malone women's athletes earned NCCAA national crowns with first-place finishes while the men's team had two individuals and a relay team take national titles (see individual performances section). In addition, the NCCAA Men’s Track & Field Coaching Staff of the Year award went to coach Grimes and his staff.
At the AMC Championships in late April, the men's and women's teams both placed in the runner-up spot among their respective nine-team fields at the American Mideast Conference Championships in Houghton, New York.
The Malone men tallied 172 points as Tiffin University won the men's team title with 242 points while Cedarville was third at 169. The Pioneer women finished with 195.50 points for their second-place finish as Cedarville took the women's title and Tiffin placed third at 153.50.
For the men, three athletes earned individual first-place finishes while one relay team also took first. Two Malone women also captured individual event titles at the AMC meet (see individual performances section). The teams also competed in such prestigious meets this season as the Sea Ray Relays, hosted by the University of Tennessee, and the Hillsdale Relays. In addition, the Ohio University Invitational, another outstanding meet that Malone was to have participated in, was cancelled due to the weather.
In addition to their outstanding efforts athletically this season, a school-record 17 men’s and women’s track & field athletes earned the Daktronics NAIA Scholar Athlete award for the ’07 campaign. Winners for the women included Katie Bagley (So., Van Wert H.S.), Lena Bishop (Jr., Jackson H.S.), Brittany Davies (Sr., Cedarville H.S.), Brooke Gasser, Joanna Genter (Sr., Crestview H.S.), Aubree Horning (Jr., Salem H.S.), Amy Iatauro (Sr., CVCA), Brittani Lyons (Sr., Elizabeth City, NC), Laura McElrath (Jr., Tallmadge H.S.), Faith Nicholson, Loren Reineke (Sr., Anna H.S.) and Lacey Watkins (Sr., Lockport, NY). Men’s recipients included Joe Carmany (Sr., New Middletown Springfield H.S.), Mike Coates, Ryan Crocker (So., CVCA), Jon Easterling and Joe Siebert (Jr., Sandy Valley H.S). The excellent national showings and the All-America honors, both at the NAIA and NCCAA levels, keep piling up for Malone College track & field and this storied program continues to excel and show why it is among the strongest of all Pioneer athletics programs.
Individual Performances
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