JOPLIN, Mo. - Prior to the start of the NCCAA National Championship meet, the association announced the postseason award honorees. Tyler Twining of the Malone University men's cross country team has been named the recipient of the prestigious Elvin and Joyce King Award.
 
As a part of the Game Plan 4 LIFE series, the Elvin and Joyce King Award is given out to one student-athlete per year for men's cross country who exemplifies the Christian faith, excellent academics and athletics as well as impressive leadership skills. Twining is the third Malone men's cross country runner to receive the award, the last coming in 2008 when Ryan Crocker won the then-titled Wheeler Award.
 
The senior student-athlete from Rochester, Ohio is an encouragement to those around him, both on the team and as a Pioneer. He saw a need for promoting the stories of his fellow students and created the "Malone Sports Minute" - a weekly segment on the school's athletics Instagram account that features highlights for the week and usually includes an interview with someone from the athletics department. He desires to give extended coverage to teams and individuals who may not get it regularly.
 
Twining has had a standout senior season on the course with his positive attitude and consistency every day in practice being standout reasons for success. He set a new personal best in the 8k at the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Classic with a time of 25:34.4. He was 13th one season ago at the NCCAA National Championships and is in search of his first cross country NCCAA All-American award in 2025.
 
In the classroom, Twining has a 3.58 grade point average as a communications major. He has been named NCCAA Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Conference in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) several times throughout his career.
 
"Tyler is the most coachable athlete on the team," said Malone Head Coach Zach Fresenko. "The coaches at Malone can always trust that Tyler will go the extra mile outside of practice time to find success. He consistently is a leader to his teammates as he works hard every single day and will never be seen slacking during practice time. He leads both on and off the course."
 
Twining and the rest of the Malone University Pioneers take the course in search of national titles on Friday, November 14 beginning at 9:00 A.M. CST.