LYNCHBURG, Va. & GENEVA, Ohio – The Malone University track & field program split their team to two events on Saturday – the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational at Liberty University and the SPIRE Indoor Games at the SPIRE Institute.
 
DARIUS DIXON MEMORIAL INVITATIONAL RECAP:
The Pioneers had top-five finishes in both the men's and women's distance medley relay at the event. Xander Heil, Sabastian Lacatus, Eric Dehmer and Hayden Schmidt ran a fourth-place time of 10:13.44 while the women's team of Kristin Yeager, Brooklyn McIntyre, Jenna Cassidy and Rylee Yocum was fifth at 12:22.76. Each squad was first among NCAA Division II schools.
 
Schmidt was selected to compete in the invite-only mile run, where he crossed the line 30th with a time of 4:18.95. Heil was in the open event and placed 23rd (4:26.83). Yocum (5:13.60) and Yeager (5:18.23) were 27th and 37th in the open heat of the mile run.
 
Lacatus competed in the 200-meter run and secured 19th with a time of 22.22 seconds (personal best). His time ties him for third in the event in program history after previously holding the number ten spot.
 
SPIRE INDOOR GAMES RECAP:
Women's sprinters were the highlight for Malone at the SPIRE Indoor Games with Macey Hicks (26.08 seconds) and Allea Graves (59.68 seconds). Hicks is now inside the program top-ten list in fifth in the 200-meter run and Graves ninth in the 400-meter run.
 
Top-ten finishes at the event were credited to Alex Hill in the 5000-meter run at 15:11.69 (fifth), Tyler Twining in the 800-meter run at 1:56.41 (seventh), Lane Goble in the 3000-meter run at 8:51.36 (ninth) and Lexi Tucci in the high jump at 1.60 meters (5' 3.00") (tenth).
 
The men's 4x400-meter relay team of Will Potts, Manamanya Opiew, Mattia Uboldi, and Twining were sixth-place finishers with a time of 3:34.02.
 
UP NEXT:
Malone track & field will stay close to home for their next event, the Mount Union Tune-Up, on Friday, February 21.