Hall of Fame
Melissa Graham-Perkins, was a phenomenal member of the Pioneer cross country and track & field program from 1998-2001.
She was a leader on the 1999 Malone University Women's Cross Country NAIA National Championship team. At the '99 national championship meet Graham-Perkins finished in the sixth spot for the Pioneers.
Missy was a 3x All-American in track & field. In 2000 she earned all-American honors in both the indoor 5,000 meter run and the outdoor 5,000 meter run. In 2001 she brought home an all-American title in the indoor 5,000 meters.
Many of Graham-Perkins' performances still stand as top-10 performances all-time in Malone history. In outdoor track & field her 1,500 meters is seventh all-time, her 3,000 meters is sixth all-time, and her 10,000 meters is fourth all-time.
In 2000 she was named an all-American in cross country with a third-place finish at the national meet. Also in cross country, her career-best 5,000 meter time is still 19th all-time in MU history.
She graduated from Malone in 2001 with a degree in Education, followed by a Master of Arts in School Counseling. Her post-graduate work was done at Kent State in Counseling Education and Supervision.
Perkins went on to work as a teacher, school counselor and coach at Marlington High School. She led the Marlington boys' team to a sixth-place finish in the state last year, the highest finish in school history.
She currently lives in Washington Township, just outside of Alliance, with her husband Josh and their four kids: Noah, Bella, Lily, and Evan.
Her oldest two children are continuing the family running tradition. In the 2020-2021 school year Noah was third at the state meet in cross country and second in track. Bella was sixth in cross country, and ninth in track. Bella has already started to break Missy's high school records. She now holds the 1600m and 3200m records at Marlington High School.
