Men's Results | Women's Results

In the opening race of the 2020 Malone Cross Country season Saturday evening, the Pioneer men were able to secure a second place finish while the women just missed a podium finish as a team, coming home fourth at the Hillsdale Invitational. The field was made up of all Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) teams, including Cedarville, Findlay, Hillsdale, Ursuline and Walsh.
 
In the men's race, Walsh claimed the team and individual race wins behind a strong performance from sophomore Drew Roberts. Pioneer junior Nicholas Michels placed second overall with a time of 26:22.3 and led Malone in scoring. Senior Zach Fresenko was just behind Michels, finishing fourth at 26:31.2.
 
True freshman Demetrius Snellenberger had a great first collegiate outing for Malone. He finished just outside the top-10 in 11th with a time of 27:15.0. Other top finishers for the Pioneers in the men's race included Christopher Cannon in 13th with a time of 27:19.7, Max Gucker with an 18th place finish at 27:29.1, and Nick Chaplik right behind him in 19th, running the hilly course in 27:32.8. A 13th place finish ties Cannon's highest individual finish in an 8k race in his career. Gucker was competing in his first career race and finished with a strong time that is sure to open some eyes around the conference. The top seven for Malone was rounded out by Tony Cappillo with a 28:09.6, good for 28th overall.
 
The women's race saw diversity at the front of the field, with the top four runners being from different schools. Alayna Ackley of Cedarville won the 6k event as an individual and Hillsdale took home the team title as the only school with three top 10 performances. The defending G-MAC Champion Mackenna Curtis-Collins came home fourth as an individual with a time of 22:50.4. Also securing a top 10 finish was Maria Martin, who finished 8th overall. Her time of 23:05.5 is Martin's career-best mark in the 6k.
 
Junior Eline Pinter, Ella Pumneo and Mackenzie McCarthy were scorers 3-5 for the Pioneers. Pinter placed 21st overall with a time of 23:50.4. The sophomore Pumneo finished with a time of 24:11.8, good for 26th place and just off her career-best 6k time. McCarthy was following in the footsteps of her teammate and brought home a 27th place finish. In her first career race, the freshman McCarthy set a best time of 24:14.9. Jocelyn Miller (24:16.4) and Sabrina McClain (24:20.4) both brought home top 30 finishes in 28th and 30th respectively, and finished off the top seven for the Pioneer women.
 
The full race results and team scoring breakdowns can be seen in the links above. Up next on the cross country schedule is the G-MAC Preview, hosted by Tiffin University, on Friday, October 2.