Results

Day One Story

The Malone University men's and women's indoor track & field teams competed in the second of two days of competition at the Spire Midwest Open, held at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio, on Saturday with numerous top-10 finishes tallied by Pioneer student-athletes. In addition, three Malone indoor school records were broken while several NCAA Division II provisional national qualifying marks were posted.

For the men, Lepear Smith placed third, among 35 participants, in the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.30 seconds.  Then, in the finals, Smith posted a time of 8.25 seconds to grab a runner-up finish.  In addition, Smith's 8.25 time in the finals was an NCAA Division II provisional national qualifying time.

Duke Taylor, with a runner-up finish among 35 competitors in the weight throw at 59' 7.50", matched Smith for the top Malone finish on the day. In addition, Taylor's throw was a new Malone indoor record and also a provisional national qualifying mark.

Among 54 contestants in the 60-meter dash prelims, Smith qualified for the finals with an eighth-place time of 7.13 seconds. Then, in the finals, he captured a fifth-place finish in 7.05 seconds.

In the 600 meters, among 22 participants, Philip Palmer and Marc Megenhardt finished seventh and ninth, respectively, with times of 1:24.17 and 1:25.14.

In the one-mile run, Mitch Williams grabbed a top-ten finish, among 54 runners, by placing eighth in a time of 4:14.04.

Two Pioneer men pocketed top-ten finishes in the 800 meters as Jarod Williams took fifth in 1:55.02 while Matt Hendrix placed tenth in 1:57.19.

Ethan Nichols paced Malone in the pole vault by finishing in a tie for seventh-place with a leap of 14' 3.50".

In the final event of the day, the Malone 4x400-meter relay team of Eric Barto, Megenhardt, Palmer and Hendrix took ninth in 3:24.95.

For the Malone women, Tina Oprean notched a third-place finish, among 53 runners, in the 800 meters in a time of 2:14.36.  In addition, Oprean's time was a new Malone indoor record and a provisional national qualifying time.

Among 40 runners in the one-mile run, Mattison Rankin tallied a third-place finish in a time of 5:11.61 while Mackenzie Keller was close behind in fifth place in 5:12.21.

In the 3000 meters, among 55 runners, Sarah Meek chalked up a 10th-place finish in a time of 10:09.15.

Crystal Barber finished fifth, among 44 sprinters, in the prelims of the 60-meter dash in 7.95 seconds.  Then, in the finals, she collected a fifth-place finish in 7.96 seconds.

Barber would later finish 10th among 58 sprinters in the 200-meter dash in 26.05 seconds.

In the 600 meters, Emily Fisher posted a sixth-place finish, among 29 runners, in a time of 1:41.18 while Emily O'Dell finished seventh in 1:42.37.

In the weight throw, among 50 throwers, Lyndsey Bates racked up a fourth-place finish with a toss of 53' 2.75", which was a new Malone indoor record and a provisional national qualifying mark.

In the final women's event of the meet, the Pioneers' 4x400-meter relay unit of Hannah Boss, Barber, Erika Rector and Fisher posted a fifth-place finish, among 17 teams represented, in a time of 4:01.90.

The Malone teams will be back in action next weekend, Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 7-8), as the squads will compete at the NCAA Division II Challenge, again held at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio.  Start time for Friday is 2:00 p.m. while Saturday's events are set to begin at 10:00 a.m.  Live results will be available for the meet.