December 8, 2007

Pioneers Open Season At Kent State Meet; Numerous School Records And National Qualifying Times Posted

 
The Malone College men's and women's indoor track & field teams, led by head coach Charlie Grimes, wasted no time in getting off to a superb start on the season at the Kent State University Golden Flash Gala last Friday and Saturday.  Pioneer athletes recorded three new school records and no fewer than eight NAIA national-qualifying marks were posted.
    
For the men's team, Ryan Kienzle (Sr., GlenOak H.S.), continued his stellar running after a runner-up individual finish at the recent NAIA Cross Country National Championships by smashing the Malone indoor record in the 5000 meters in a winning time of 14:20.99.  Brady West (Sr., West Muskingum H.S.) finished sixth in the heptathlon with a new Malone indoor record of 4749 points and Nik Schweikert (Jr., Beavercreek H.S.) placed eighth in the 5000 meters in a time of 15:07.84.  Each of the three athletes' performances were NAIA automatic qualifying marks.
    
For the women's squad, Becky Rospotynski (So., Copley H.S.) placed second in the pole vault with a new Malone school record and NAIA automatic qualifying mark of 11' 11.75".  Laura McElrath (Sr., Tallmadge H.S.) also posted an NAIA national-qualifying mark in the pentathlon with a third-place finish at 3107 points.
    
Sarah Hines (So., Northmor H.S.) tallied an NAIA provisional qualifying mark in the 5000 meters in a time of 18:31.87 while Megan Patton (Jr., Perry H.S.) also qualified provisionally with a 14th-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles in 9.45 seconds.
    
In addition, the women's 4x400 relay team of Kim Winton (Jr., Medina H.S.), Laura Scott (Fr., West Branch H.S.), Amanda Theis (Fr., Seneca East H.S.) and Vallie Scott (Jr., West Branch H.S.) notched an NAIA provisional time of 4:05.40 (ninth place).
    
The Malone men's and women's teams will be idle until the Doug Raymond Invitational, hosted by Kent State University, on January 12th.
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