May 3, 2008

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

 
The Malone College men's and women's track & field teams competed at the NCCAA National Championships in Marion, Indiana (hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University) last Friday and Saturday and the Pioneer women claimed a national title among a 14-team field while the men's squad finished as the national runner-up among a 15-team field.  In addition, the Malone coaching staff earned the NCCAA Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year award.
    
 In the women's competition, Malone finished with 158 points to edge runner-up Cedarville University, which finished with 152 points.  Indiana Wesleyan took third at 126, Bethel (IN) College was fourth at 113 and Greenville (IL) College rounded out the top five at 76 points.
    
For the men, Malone finished with 124 points for its second-place finish as Indiana Wesleyan captured the men's team title with 163.5 points.  Taylor (IN) University and Bethel tied for third with 112 points while Greenville rounded out the top five with 103.5 points.
    
For the Malone women, three athletes collected individual NCCAA national titles while 11 other Pioneer athletes also achieved NCCAA All-America status by finishing in the top three in an event.  The men's team had three individual national champions and one relay national champion while an additional six athletes and one other relay team earned NCCAA All-America honors.
    
Taking individual national titles for the women were Becky Rospotynski (So., Copley H.S.) in the pole vault with a height of 11' 11.75", which was an NAIA auto qualifying mark and a new Malone record, Lori Ickes (Fr., Smithville H.S.) in the javelin with a throw of 135' 5" (NAIA auto qualifying mark), and Laura McElrath (Sr., Tallmadge H.S.) in the heptathlon with 4290 points (NAIA auto qualifying mark).
    
Second-place finishers for the women were Megan Patton (Jr., Perry H.S.) in the 100-meter hurdles (14.79; NAIA auto; new Malone record), Sarah Hines (So., Northmor H.S.) in the 3000-meter steeplechase (11:28,12; NAIA auto), Kim Winton (Jr., Medina H.S.) in the 400 meters (58.92) and Emily Alderfer (So., Urbana H.S.) in the shot put (39' 10.75").
    
Taking third-place for the Pioneer women were Rebekah Genter (Jr., Crestview H.S.) in the 10,000 meters (38:32.05; NAIA auto), Vallie Scott (Jr., West Branch H.S.) in the 400 meters (59.21), Patton in the 400-meter hurdles (1:06.58), Lindsey Pifher (Fr., Colonel Crawford H.S.) in the 3000-meter steeplechase (11:42.12; NAIA provisional), Holly Motter (Jr., Mt. Union, PA) in the triple jump (35' 2") and Ickes in the discus (137' 0"; NAIA provisional) and in the heptathlon (3926 points; NAIA auto).
    
Capturing individual national titles for the men were Aaron Melhorn (Fr., Fairless H.S.), who won the 3000-meter steeplechase in an NAIA auto qualifying and current top NAIA time of 8:55.29, Ryan Kienzle (Sr., GlenOak H.S.) in the 10,000 meters (31:48.05) and Brady West (Sr., West Muskingum H.S.) in the decathlon (6350 points; NAIA auto).  In addition, the men's 4x800-meter relay team of Chris Cruise (Sr., Field H.S.), Melhorn, Mike Coates (Sr., Sandy Valley H.S.) and Chris Sinick (So., Field H.S.) won their event in a time of 7:45.20.
    
Second-place finishers for the men included Shane McLaughlin (So., Caldwell H.S.) in the decathlon (6165 points; NAIA auto) and Nik Schweikert (Jr., Beavercreek H.S.) in the 5000 meters (15:18.89).
    
Taking third-place for the men were Chris Sinick in the 800 meters (1:55.58), James Zeuch (Fr., Galion H.S.) in the 5000 meters (15:19.86), McLaughlin in the high jump (6' 6"), Justin Jump (Jr., Wellington H.S.) in the discus (155' 2"; NAIA provisional) along with the men's 4x400-meter relay team of Jay Brueckner (Sr., Crestview H.S.), Garrett Oliver (So., Benjamin Logan H.S.), Jeb Ford (Jr., Minerva H.S.) and Cruise in a time of 3:22.25.
    
This week, the teams will compete at the Allegheny (PA) College Invitational on Saturday.
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