Men's Results  |  Women's Results

Men's Recap from Canton Repository

The Malone University men's cross country team claimed a first-place finish while the Pioneer women took fourth at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championship Meet on Saturday at GlenOak High School in Canton.

After finishing runner-up at the G-MAC Championships by narrow margins the last two years, the Pioneer men secured their first conference title in the NCAA Division II era, edging second-place Walsh University by three points.

Malone, ranked 18th in the most recent NCAA Division II Men's National Poll, posted a total of 48 points.  Walsh, the 20th-ranked team in Division II, notched 51 points and No. 17 Cedarville University was third with 58 points.

Head coach Jack Hazen was tabbed G-MAC Men's Coach of the Year following his team's impressive showing.  The Pioneer men won 43 consecutive conference and/or district championship meets from 1968 through 2010 and then won an Ohio Independent Conference Title in 2011.  The program then earned runner-up finishes at four straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship Meets from 2012-2015 and placed second at the G-MAC Meet in both 2016 and 2017 before returning to the top of the podium on Saturday.



Senior George McCartney earned the individual G-MAC Championship and the G-MAC Men's Runner of the Year Award for the second time in his career after placing first in Saturday's 8K race in 26:38.9.  McCartney also captured the G-MAC Title in 2016 and placed fourth at last year's meet.



Sophomore Zach Fresenko, last year's G-MAC Freshman of the Year, was right behind McCartney, placing second overall with a mark of 26:41.4.  Both McCartney and Fresenko collected G-MAC All-Conference First Team honors.  2018 marked the third straight year that McCartney was named to the First Team while Fresenko received the honor for the second consecutive season.



Sophomore Noah Chaplik also registered a Top 10 finish, earning G-MAC All-Conference Second Team accolades by placing eighth in 27:07.5. 



Nicholas Michels and Lucas Huber were also vital to Malone's point total.  Michels, a freshman, finished 18th in 27:29.8 while Huber, a sophomore, finished 19th at 27:32.2.

Also scoring for the Pioneers was senior Brett Cortelletti, who placed 32nd in 27:58.1, and junior Noah Whittington, who took 34th in 28:09.7.

The Pioneer women's team delivered a Top 5 performance at the conference championship meet for the fourth consecutive year, totaling 107 points in Saturday's race.  NCAA Division II No. 15 Walsh, the event's host, captured the team title with 34 points.  17th-ranked Hillsdale College was second with 52 points and Cedarville was a close third with 54 points.

Junior Rachel Wentworth led the way for the Pioneers as she placed 16th overall after recording a time of 23:46.4 on the 6K course.  Redshirt freshman Mackenna Curtis-Collins was right behind Wentworth, finishing 17th at 23:48.7.  Sophomore Jasmine Penrod took 24th in 24:17.3 while junior Dana Risley was 27th in 24:33.3.  Freshmen Leah Metzger and Jocelyn Miller took 29th and 31st, respectively.  Metzger finished in 24:39.2 and Miller followed in 24:48.6.  Also scoring for the Pioneers was junior Maria Martin, who placed 33rd in 24:53.4.



Both Pioneer cross country teams will now move on to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championships which will be held at Hillsdale College in Michigan on November 17.