CEDARVILLE, Ohio - It was a warm day in the Hayfields of Cedarville. Running conditions were on the slight edge of discomfort. Running wouldn't be hard to run in, but Cedarville makes it twice as hard. The Malone University cross country teams went down to the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Classic at the Elvin King memorial course.
 
The course is like running in a giant hay field surrounded by corn and soybean fields. The course rolls naturally, like a woven rug where it looks flat, but can still feel where the fabric changes constantly. The course has no shade, making the course ten degrees warmer and the wind speed adds ten to the anemometer. This was a course that our heroes had to coerce.
 
The women's team went off at 6:00. For some, this was a refresher 6K race, but for the freshman, it was going to be a challenge for it was their first distance longer than 5,000 meters. Karrah Singleton was the leader for Malone with a 24:00 6K debut. Senior Rachel Whetstone was the next Pioneer only 24 seconds (24:24) off of Singleton's pace. Fellow Mogadore Wildcat Brooklyn McIntyre finished her race with a time of 24:47. The women finished 12th out of 24 teams with a score of 379.
 
The men's race was next in their first 8K of the season. They were sitting second, one point behind Walsh University, through the first two miles with Xander Heil and Wyatt Royster leading the charge. The fourth mile came around and Malone was starting to feel the pace. The team dropped from second to fifth. At the finish line, Malone finished third out of 24 teams with a score of 95 points. Wyatt Royster led the way with a time of 25:39 and a 10th-place finish in the entire race. Heil followed up just behind with a time of 25:40. The top three was rounded up by Alex Hill, missing the 25-minute mark by only 12 seconds with a time of 26:12.
 
This finish results to the best finish for the team at the meet in five years. Graduate Assistant Coach Jacob Cureton said, "Everyone went out and competed well. The women did solid and had fun" The lead Pioneer Singleton mentioned, "It was a little harder than the 5k but we were able to push through and get a solid finish." Wyatt Royster had this to say, "We competed well and moved up throughout the entire race."
 
The Pioneers' next race will be an abnormally quick turnaround as they will be racing at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Preview meet at Hedges Boyer Park in Tiffin, Ohio on September 25.