February 16, 2008

Malone Men Finish Fifth at All-Ohio Indoor Championships Over the Weekend; Women Place Ninth

 
The Malone College men's track & field team posted a fifth-place finish at the All-Ohio Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Findlay, last Friday and Saturday while the women's squad placed ninth.  The Pioneer men's team tallied 40.5 points as The Ohio State University won the men's team title with 190.5 points and the University of Cincinnati finished runners-up with 166.5 points.  In the women's meet, Malone finished with 14 points as Miami University took the women's team title with 161.5 points.  Cincinnati finished second with 106 points.  Numerous automatic and provisional qualifying marks were posted by the men's and women's squads.     
 
For the men, Justin Baum (Sr., Kenston H.S.) won the 5000 meters in a time of 14:47.09 to automatically qualify for the NAIA indoor national meet.  Also posting automatic qualifying times for the men were Evan Gaynor (So., Delta H.S.) and Mike Coates (Sr., Sandy Valley H.S.) in the 3000 meters as they finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in times of 8:42.58 and 8:45.43.
    
Finishing third in an event for the men was Brady West (Sr., West Muskingum H.S.) who placed third in the heptathlon with 4007 points.  Shane McLaughlin (So., Caldwell H.S.) placed fourth in the heptathlon with 3997 points.
    
Other top-eight finishers (who scored points for the team) included McLaughlin in the high jump (5th, 6' 4.75"), Steven Young (Fr., Gladstone, MO) in the triple jump (5th, 40' 3.5") and the 4x400-meter relay team of Garrett Oliver (So., Benjamin Logan H.S.), Bryan Krieger (So., Cuyahoga Falls H.S.), Bryan McCanna (Fr., Smithville H.S.) and Chris Cruise (Sr., Field H.S.) which placed sixth in a time of 3:30.53.
    
For the women's team, Rebekah Genter (Jr., Crestview H.S.) posted an auto qualifying time in the 3000 meters in 10:25.96 (sixth place) while the 4x400-meter relay unit of Kim Winton (Jr., Medina H.S.), Laura McElrath (Sr., Tallmadge H.S.), Amanda Theis (Fr., Seneca East H.S.) and Vallie Scott (Jr., West Branch H.S.) also automatically qualified with a time of 4:04.06 (seventh place).
    
Provisional qualifiers for the women's team included Theis in the 800 meters (2:22.22, 15th), Scott in the 400 meters (1:00.28, 13th), Kalie Hauenstein (So., Ashland H.S.) in the 3000 meters (10:36.21, 11th) and the distance medley relay team of Kayleigh Bildstein (Fr., Madison H.S.), Megan Patton (Jr., Perry H.S.), Theis and Lindsey Pifher (Fr., Colonel Crawford H.S.) in a time of 12:51.87 (7th).
    
Rebecca Rospotynski (So., Copley H.S.) finished fifth in the pole vault with a leap of 11' 8" while McElrath also had a top-eight finish with a sixth-place finish in the pentathlon with 3087 points.
    
SPECIAL NOTE:  Men's track & field and cross country athlete James Zeuch (Fr., Galion H.S.) competed at the U.S. Junior Nationals in San Diego last weekend.  Among approximately 100 athletes, Zeuch finished 23rd in the 8K event in a time of 25:42 and just missed qualifying for the U.S. Junior team (only top 15 qualified).  The time was just two seconds off his personal best cross country time at Malone.
    
This week, the Malone teams will compete at the Kent State University Tune-Up Meet on Saturday at 9:00 p.m. in their final competition before the NAIA Indoor National Championships March 6-8 in Johnson City, Tennessee.
 
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