November 10, 2007

Malone Men Win NCCAA National Title; Women Finish Runner-Up

 
The Malone College men's cross country team, ranked #1 in the NAIA, captured the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) national championship in Yellow Springs, Ohio last Saturday among a 22-team field while the Malone women's team finished runner-up among 24 teams.
    
The Malone men, which rested a number of their top runners, tallied 30 points to easily outdistance runner-up Indiana Wesleyan University, which had 63 points.  MidAmerica Nazarene (KS) University took third (91), Cedarville University was fourth (97) and Dallas Baptist (TX) University rounded out the top five (155).
    
The Pioneer women's team, ranked fifth in the NAIA, earned its runner-up national finish by posting 61 points as Cedarville University took the women's national title with 29 points.  Indiana Wesleyan was third (94), Dallas Baptist came in fourth (125) and MidAmerica Nazarene rounded out the top five (132).
    
 For the men's team, Chris Sinick (So., Field H.S.) led the way by finishing third overall in a time of 25:27.72 while Mike Coates (Sr., Sandy Valley H.S.) was right behind in fourth (25:32.67).  Others who scored for Malone included James Zeuch (Fr., Galion H.S.) in sixth (25:38.85), Justin Baum (Sr., Kenston H.S.) in eighth (25:44.34) and Matt Nichols (Fr., Crestwood H.S.) in 15th (26:15.67).  By virtue of their top-15 finishes, all five of these athletes earned NCCAA All-America honors.  In addition, Malone head coach Jack Hazen was named the NCCAA National Men' s Coach of the Year.
    
Also competing for the men's team were Dan McCracken (So., Anna H.S.) in 25th (26:38.16) and Kyle Randolph (Fr., Galion H.S.) in 28th (26:44.92).
    
NCCAA Scholar Athletes (those who earned at least a 3.40 cumulative GPA), were named at the meet and those earned the distinction for the men were Keith Burns (Jr., Minerva H.S.), Mike Coates, Jon Easterling (Jr., Ashtabula H.S.), Nik Schweikert (Jr., Beavercreek H.S.) and Joe Siebert (Jr., Sandy Valley H.S.).
    
For the women's team, Rebekah Genter (Jr., Crestview H.S.) paced the squad with a seventh-place overall finish in a time of 18:32.28.  Kalie Hauenstein (So., Ashland H.S.) was close behind in 10th place (18:43.52).  Others who scored for the team included Sarah Hines (So., Northmor H.S.) in 12th (18:47.02), Emily Grad (Fr., Field H.S.) in 15th (19:00.24) and Kristin Downing (Fr., Lake H.S.) in 17th (19:08.88).  Genter, Hauenstein, Hines and Grad were all named NCCAA All-Americans by virtue of their top-15 finishes.
    
Also competing for the women's team were Lindsey Pihfer (Fr., Colonel Crawford H.S.) in 30th (19:41.22) and Gabrielle Wuensch (Fr., New London H.S.) in 42nd (20:00.34).
    
NCCAA Scholar Athletes for the women included Katie Bagley (Jr., Van Wert H.S.) and Rebekah Genter.
    
This week, the Malone teams will compete at the NAIA National Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  The men's race is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. (CST) and the women's race is set for 11:45 a.m. (CST).   
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