Malone University Athletics

2024 Malone Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet

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First established in 1985, the Malone University Athletics Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have distinguished themselves in athletics while at the University. To qualify, athlete inductees must be graduates of Malone, must have graduated at least ten years prior to selection, must exemplify the highest ideals of intercollegiate athletics, and must have earned two letters in one or more sports. As a coach, they must have served the University athletics department five or more years (current coaches ten or more years). In 2007, a provision was established to allow athletics administrators or other support personnel to become eligible, with a minimum of 10 years of athletics service to the University.

Malone University Athletics Hall of Fame Inductees

The ceremony is being held on the weekend of October 4-5 in the Johnson Center. Doors open and breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m. in the Johnson Center Dining Room and the program will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Johnson Center Worship Center. Tickets are now available, and can be purchased HERE. For more information regarding the 2024 HOMECOMING AND FAMILY WEEKEND, click the link.

Below is the complete bio information for the Malone University Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024.

2024 Inductees:

1999 Malone University Women's Cross Country Team - Pioneer Championship Award
Bob Dubovec '08 - Baseball
Isiah Elliott '14 - Men's Basketball
Leta (Huntington) Gramlich '04 - Women's Soccer
Scotty Jones '07 - Men's Golf
Tony Migliozzi '14 - Men's Cross Country / Track & Field
Tina (Oprean) Ryee '14 - Women's Cross Country / Track & Field
Stacy (Ridenbaugh) Ignacio '02 - Women's Basketball
Ralph Schreiber - The Pioneer Meritorious Service Award
Dean Schuler '76 - Pioneer Legacy Award
Erin (McAlarney) Snellgrove '02 - Women's Volleyball / Softball
Brady West '08 & '12 - Men's Track & Field

1999 Malone University Women's Cross Country Team:
The 1999 Malone women’s cross country team is the second inductee into the Malone University Athletics Hall of Fame under the Pioneer Championship Award banner.
 
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the NAIA National Championship squad. The 1999 team is the first women’s program in school history to win an NAIA National Championship and the second NAIA title in school history, the first being the 1972 men’s cross country championship. 27 years later, then-Malone College and head coach Jack Hazen were on top of the NAIA once again.
 
The NAIA National Championships took place on November 20 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Pioneers were sharp from the start and cruised to a victory by 77 points over second-place Spring Arbor. The team featured four NAIA All-Americans, including Everlyne Lagat, Julie (Harrison) Varner, Maria Tsirba and Kris Owens. Lagat led the way with a third-place finish in the 5k race at 17:44.
 
Varner’s All-American award marked the fourth in her career. She became the first woman to earn four NAIA All-American awards in a single sport in school history and was the third student-athlete at Malone to secure four All-Americans.
 
Prior to their appearance at the NAIA National Championships, the Pioneers were NCCAA National Champions and American Mideast Conference champions in 1999 to complete a three-peat in each of those organizations. Lagat was the NCCAA Individual National Champion with a time of 17:49 at the event in Yellow Springs, Ohio and was AMC Individual Champion. Malone’s team featured six NCCAA All-Americans, including Lagat, Varner, Owens, Missy Almond, Tsirba and Jen Wollam.
 
Head Coach Jack Hazen was named NCCAA National Coach of the Year as well as AMC Coach of the Year for both the men’s and women’s teams in 1999. He led the Pioneer cross country teams to their best combined NAIA finishes to date thanks to the men’s team placing third nationally.
 
Varner, Almond, Chrissie Jeren and Becca Haver were selected as NAIA All-American Scholars and NCCAA Academic All-Americans for their efforts on the course and in the classroom.
 
The 1999 women’s cross country team included:
 
Rebecca Beery
Ann Dunbar
Kathi Eddins
Angela Gately
Missy Graham
Jeni Griffin
Everlyn Lagat
Julie (Harrison) Varner
Becca Haver
Chrissie Jeren
Angela Kubick
Kris Owens
Maria Tsirba
Jen Webber
Jen Wollam

Bob Dubovec:
Bob Dubovec put together one of the best seasons in program history for the Malone baseball team in a championship 2006 season and still holds records to this day for his success on the diamond.
 
The Chagrin Falls native led the team to an NCCAA National Championship in their fourth tournament appearance on May 20, 2006. The Pioneers defeated Spring Arbor in the winner-take-all NCCAA Tournament Championship 6-0 to secure the program’s first national title. The team finished the year with an overall record of 40-20, a mark that at the time broke the school record for most victories in a single season.
 
Dubovec was a first baseman and a pitcher that season and started in all 60 games, including 14 appearances on the rubber. He was named as the NCCAA National Player of the Year after hitting .431 on the year with 87 hits, 19 doubles, 4 homeruns, 67 RBIs and 48 runs scored. On the pitching side, Dubovec held a record of 8-4 with a 3.63 ERA in 69.1 innings pitched and 62 strikeouts.
 
Along with his NCCAA National Player of the Year honors, he was also a member of the NCCAA All-Tournament Team and was the American Mideast Conference North Division Player of the Year following the 2006 season. Dubovec was an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American selection as well. In 2007, he was chosen as a First Team All-AMC North Division infielder for his second all-conference award of his career.
 
Dubovec still holds records today for his single season hit totals and RBI totals stemming from that triumphant 2006 season. He also holds the Malone baseball program career record for batting average after hitting .404 between the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
 
After graduating from Malone in 2008, he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana where he opened his own store, The Exchange. He now has a second store and is looking to expand to a third in 2025. Bobby now resides in Fishers, Indiana with his wife Molly and children Lincoln and Charlie.
 
His family enjoys to spend time at GiGi’s Playhouse Indianapolis, a not-for-profit Down Syndrome achievement center and Special Olympics of Indiana sporting activities. He enjoys coaching and playing sports with his sons, harness racing, golf, fishing, going to Disney Would and collecting Pokemon cards with Lincoln. When back in northeast Ohio visiting their parents, Bobby is sure to order from Pizza Oven, stop at Taggart’s and pick up candy from Heggy’s to take back home to Indiana.

Isiah Elliott:
Isiah Elliott is a 2014 graduate from Malone who was a standout on the basketball court under head coach Tim Walker. He was a member of the Pioneer men’s basketball team from 2010 through 2014 where the team accumulated a record of 59-53.
 
Elliott’s career was filled with accolades, highlighted by a pair of First Team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors. The school’s transition to NCAA Division II was made easier for the Pioneers thanks to his impact. Elliott helped lead an upset of the top-seeded Lake Superior State University in the first round of the GLIAC Tournament in 2014.
 
Elliott was the first men’s basketball player to earn the Athlete of the Week award from the GLIAC in the 2012-13 campaign. To go with his First Team All-GLIAC award that season, Elliott was also tabbed NCCAA East Region Player of the Year.
 
Prior to joining the GLIAC, Elliott was a Second Team All-Ohio Independent Championship representative and NCCAA East Region Second Team honoree in the 2011-12. He was a Honorable Mention All-American Mideast Conference and was represented on the AMC All-Freshman Team in 2010-11.
 
Elliott finished his career with 1,533 points, 458 assists and 190 steals. He was the 17th player in program history to reach the 1,500-point mark and is inside the top-10 in both assists and steals in the history of Malone men’s basketball.
 
Along with the efforts of Coach Walker, Elliott also shared the court with very talented players such as Che Richardson and Cory Veldhuizen.
 
After graduation, Elliott began work in supply chain management. He also worked as a body double and did some modeling work for campaigns with Nike. For the last nine seasons, Elliott has been a coach at North Canton Hoover High School.

Leta (Huntington) Gramlich:
Leta (Huntington) Gramlich was a four-year letter winner on both the Malone women’s soccer and track & field teams. She was a 2004 graduate with a degree in mathematics.
 
Gramlich was a four-year starter and two-year captain under head coach Todd Clark. During her tenure at Malone, the team held a 66-19-7 record. As a center midfielder, Gramlich scored 19 career goals and recorded 18 assists.
 
The 2003 women’s soccer squad reached the NAIA National Tournament thanks to claiming the Region IX championship. They are the only team to reach the national tournament in program history and won the OCSA Team of the Year that season. Individually, Gramlich was an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American, an All-Region selection, OCSA Player of the Year, Senior All-Star Game Participant, NCCAA First Team All-American, NCCAA All-Region and First Team All-American Midwest Conference.
 
In 2002, the team won the AMC championship and NCCAA National Tournament championship. It is the lone NCCAA National Championship in the program’s four appearances. The year prior, Malone were outright AMC champions.
 
Along with her accomplishments in soccer, she also credits her success due to her time as a member of the indoor and outdoor track & field teams. Gramlich was a five-time NAIA National Qualifier and three-time NCCAA National Champion as an individual while the team were NCCAA champions five times in her career.
 
After graduation, Gramlich went on to pursue her master’s degree in education from Ashland University in 2012 and currently teaches at Tuslaw High School. She went on to marry her high school sweetheart and fellow Malone University Athletics Hall of Famer Dave Gramlich and the two recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. They have two children, Elia and Beckham, who both have followed in their mother’s footsteps playing soccer and Beckham plays baseball as well. Gramlich continues to play soccer recreationally and stays busy watching her children pursue their sport goals.

Scotty Jones:
2007 graduate Scotty Jones was a major part of the Malone men’s golf program that received national accolades for its success at the NAIA level under Hall of Fame head coach Ken Hyland.
 
All four years with the program, Jones helped lead the Pioneers to NAIA National Championship Tournament appearances, highlighted by a ninth-place finish in the 2006 season. The team won the NAIA Region IX Championship and the American Mideast Championship in all four seasons to qualify for the national tournament, and that began a run of eight consecutive titles for Malone spanning from 2004-2011.
 
Jones was named the tenth NAIA All-American in program history in 2006 after a 19th place finish at the NAIA National Championships. He scored an eight-over 296 over four rounds at 73-78-70-75. Jones was the individual medalist at both the NAIA Region IX Tournament and the AMC Championship event in 2005 and 2006 and received the Al Turner Award, given to the AMC MVP in those seasons.
 
In his senior year, Jones was an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American after picking up 21 spots on the leaderboard on the final day of competition at the NAIA National Championship with an even-par 72. In the classroom, Jones was an NAIA Scholar Athlete in both 2006 and 2007 and the team was an NAIA Scholar Team in the 2006 season.
 
Along with the team’s victories at the NAIA level, Jones was also a part of the 2004 NCCAA National Championship team. It was the third NCCAA National Championship in program history.
 
Off the course, Jones won the 2007 Malone College Champions of Character Award. He graduated with a degree in Business Administration. He married his wife and fellow Malone Hall of Famer Raquel in 2008 and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to pursue a professional golf career. He would find his way back to the Buckeye state in 2011 to start a family and begin a business career.
 
He now has three boys aged 11, 10 and 7 and is a Financial Planner and Advisor with Sirak Financial Services in Canton. Outside of my career and family, activities include church leadership, and coaching youth football, basketball, and baseball.

Tony Migliozzi:
Tony Migliozzi is a 2014 graduate and has a very decorated running career both at Malone and as a professional. As a Pioneer, he competed on the cross country and track and field teams from 2008-2013.
 
Migliozzi was a member of the NAIA National Championship teams in 2008 and 2009 and was an NCCAA National Champion in 2008, 2009 and 2011. He was a part of the final three American Mideast Conference Championships in 2008 through 2010 prior to the institution beginning the transition to NCAA Division II.
 
In 2009, Migliozzi placed fourth on the individual leaderboard at the NCCAA National Championship event to earn NCCAA All-American honors and he was All-AMC Second Team that year. He followed that up with a fourth-place finish to become First Team All-AMC in 2010 and broke out in the 2011 season.
 
Migliozzi was the Ohio Independent Champion and NCCAA National Champion as an individual and was a three-time NCCAA National Athlete of the Week in that season. He spearheaded a return to form for the cross country program at the NCCAA National Championships with a 1-4-5-7-8 finish for the team.
 
In track and field, Migliozzi was a member of the 2010 team that won both the AMC championship and NCCAA National Championship. He was victorious in the 10,000-meter race to earn First Team All-AMC honors. In 2011, Migliozzi would run a two-hour, 28 minute time in the marathon at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships to earn his first NAIA All-American award. Along with being coached by Jack Hazen, he also fell under the tutelage of Matt Reneker while at Malone and owes his success to their teachings.
 
After graduation, Migliozzi continued to compete and made the 50k World Championships in Qatar in 2015 and 2016. He was the USA Track and Field 2016 ultra-runner of the year and USA Track and Field athlete of the week on November 7, 2016. Migliozzi made the Olympic Trials in 2016 with a personal best marathon of 2:16:44. He was the first American to win the Akron Marathon and set the indoor marathon world record at the historic Armory indoor track in New York.
 
Migliozzi currently resides in Canal Fulton where he is a logistics coordinator for Loop Xpress INC. He estimates to have run over 100,000 miles in his lifetime and earlier this year finished seventh in the Cleveland Marathon.

Tina (Oprean) Ryee:
Tina (Oprean) Ryee is a 2014 graduate from Malone who was a standout as a member of the Pioneer track & field and cross country programs.
 
Ryee became the school’s first ever NCAA Division II All-American in the 2013 cross country season. She ran a time of 21.47.9 at the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships in Spokane, Washington to score a 38th place finish. She earned USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honors in that same year after winning the Disney Classic.
 
Prior to that, the team would repeat as NCCAA National Champions in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, the 11th and 12th NCCAA championships in program history. Ryee placed sixth in the 2010 event and earned NCCAA All-American honors. She currently holds the fifth-fastest time in the cross country 5k at 17:32.12 and the fourth-fastest time in the cross country 6k at 21:25.4.
 
As a member of the track & field team, Ryee was a part of the 2011 American Mideast Conference championship team before moving to NCAA Division II. She qualified to compete at the 2014 NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 16:54.56. She was the first women in Malone history to break the 17-minute mark in the event.
 
During the 2014 season, Ryee held every school record from the 800-meter run all the way to the 5,000-meter run and remains inside the top-10 in nine different distance events for the Pioneers.
 
Ryee served as the distance coach for Malone for seven seasons and was the head cross country coach for three years and Director of Track and Field and Cross Country for two. Ryee is the founder and owner of the USATF Women's 6km Championship in Canton. Ryee created the race in 2021 and focuses on women's empowerment through the channels of road racing and top tier caliber athletes.
 
She is married to Eugene Ryee and the two reside in Massillon with their dog, Atlas. Ryee is a full-time employee at Second Sole Ohio as their Creative Director. Thier family owns three businesses, Hardwood Brothers, The Print Bar, and Top Tier Athlete Inc.

Stacy (Ridenbaugh) Ignacio:
Stacy (Ridenbaugh) Ignacio was a member of the Malone women’s basketball team in the midst of a dominant period for the Pioneers from 1998-2002. Ignacio played under head coaches Kathy Haas, a fellow Malone University Athletics Hall of Famer, and Yvette Sparks. Current Hall of Famers Amy Stefansic, Michelle (Ling) Mishler, Kristen (Beach) Huntington, and Joy (Wilkinson) Plumley were teammates of Ignacio during that time. The team had an overall record of 81-36 in those seasons.
 
Malone appeared in both the NAIA National Tournament in 2002 and the NCCAA National Tournament in 2000, the only two appearances in program history. Individually, Ignacio was a member of the Second Team All-American Mideast Conference team in 2002 and was an Honorable Mention All-AMC honoree in 2000 and 2001. Additionally, she was selected as NCCAA East Region First Team in both 2001 and 2002 and was an NCCAA East Region Honorable Mention in 2000.
 
In her career, Ignacio averaged 12.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.9 steals per game. Her 115 steals in the 1999-2000 season set a new school record and she is second in school history with 331 career steals. She scored 1,407 career points and is ninth on the program’s all-time scoring list.
 
Ignacio graduated from Malone in 2002 with a Bachelors of Arts in Business Administration and shortly thereafter married Jeff Ignacio, a 2000 graduate. Stacy & Jeff reside in Canton and have four children: Halle, a Senior at the University of Mount Union), Mia, a Freshman at Purchase College in New York, Myles, a Sophomore in high school training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and Mac, a 5th Grader at Amherst Elementary.
 
She has since coached basketball at her hometown high school, Canton South, as an assistant varsity coach and head 8th grade coach. Ignacio helped out with the Stark Public Special Olympics and most recently was at Brahler's Cleaning & Restoration for five years, serving as the company's President in her last year of employment. You could also find her watching her nephews and niece during the school year as her siblings serve as teachers.

Ralph Schreiber:
Ralph Schreiber is a 2024 inductee into the Malone University Athletics Hall of Fame under the banner of the Pioneer Meritorious Service Award. The Pioneer Meritorious Service Award honors coaches, administrators and other members of the Malone community who have worked tirelessly to support the university's athletic department.
 
Schreiber has served student-athletes at both the collegiate, high school and middle school levels for decades dating back to 1966 when he helped start the cross country program at John H. Lehman High School. While at Lehman, Schreiber found a roll as coach of the pole vault and through that began to help out at Malone starting in 1984.
 
He came on board in the midst of an American Mideast Conference championship run for the Pioneers that lasted 18 years from 1972 to 1989. Names such as Ken McIlwane, Mark McClure, Mike Daniels, Brian Kelly, Deana Fresenko, Dwayne Stanford, Rich Hlaudy and Tim Mack were members of the track and field program that Schreiber was able to lead to great success early in his tenure.
 
With the approval of Head Coach Jack Hazen, Schreiber was able to take his top athletes on an independent schedule where they were able to compete against some of the top athletes in the NCAA as a member of NAIA at the time. He would take his student-athletes around the region and compete against some of the best pole vaulters in the country to be able to train to compete for an NAIA national championship.
 
Mack currently holds the Malone pole vault record at 17 feet, 5 inches. Kelly, Hlaudy and McIlwane are second through fourth on that list as well. Years after he competed under Schreiber, Mack was selected to be a part of the United States team at the 2004 Olympics.
 
Aside from his work with track and field, Schreiber was a member of the United States army from 1963-65. He studied law and has worked at a variety of courts and legal firms in the area. He also has done work in sales for pole vaulting and other track and field equipement.

Dean Schuler:
Dean Schuler, a graduate in the class of 1976, has been named the 2024 recipient of the Pioneer Legacy Award for his work as a player and coach for the baseball program and in the community.
 
On the diamond, Schuler embodied the term “champion” with a title in all four of his varsity seasons. Malone won the Mid-Ohio Conference championship in 1972, 1973 and 1975 and were NAIA District champions for three consecutive years from 1972 through 1974. The Pioneers made it to the 1973 NAIA World Series, the first appearance in program history.
 
The pedigree of championship performance followed him into his coaching career under Malone Hall of Famer Bob Starcher. 1976 and 1977 would also be Mid-Ohio Conference Championship seasons for Malone and the team were District Champions in those years as well. Schuler was tasked as the hitting coach and worked with the catchers and outfielders.
 
In addition to coaching, Schuler’s legacy can be attributed to sharing the gospel through the Athletes in Action Association. He made baseball missionary trips to Guam, Japan and Micronesian Islands in 1977.
 
Scott Thomson and Mick Dwyer went on to play professionally under the tutelage of Starcher, Schuler and the rest of the coaching staff. Schuler would embark on a 20+ year journey as an associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds to further his work in professional baseball.
 
He was also able to make an impact in the high school ranks. Schuler has a historic coaching career at Valley High School from 1982 to 2015 where he ended up inducted into the Southeastern Ohio Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Ohio Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006.
 
Schuler has been married to his wife Debbie for 29 years and they have one son and three step-daughters. He is a proud pawpaw to nine grandchildren as well. His continued legacy can be seen by the opportunity to coach his son and see him play at the collegiate level at the University of Rio Grande. The highlight for Schuler has been able to make an impact on thousands of baseball players throughout his career.

Erin (McAlarney) Snellgrove:
To say that Erin (McAlarney) Snellgrove did it all when she was at Malone might be an understatement. The 2002 graduate competed in volleyball and softball for four seasons and even tried her hand at women’s basketball for one year during her tenure.
 
In volleyball, Snellgrove was a four-time All-American Mideast Conference recipient. She earned Second Team honors in 1998 and 1999 and First Team in 2000 and 2001. She helped lead the Pioneers to conference championships in 2000 and 2001 as well.
 
In all four seasons played, Snellgrove was an NCCAA First Team All-East Region selection. The team competed in the NCCAA National Tournament in all four seasons with the program, including an NCCAA East Region Championship in 2000.
 
Along with her work on the court, Snellgove was named NAIA Scholar Athlete, AMC Scholar Athlete and NCCAA All-American Scholar Athlete in 2001. In the history of the Malone volleyball program, she is in the top-10 all-time in digs, attack percentage, solo blocks and matches played for a single season and kills, attempts, aces, attack percentage, digs, blocks and points for her four-year career.
 
On the softball field, she was an Honorable Mention All-AMC selection in the 2002 season and helped lead the Pioneers to a third-place finish at the NCCAA National Championships in 2001.
 
Her name is among the all-time greats in program history. Snellgrove is in the top-10 in single season games, at-bats and runs and in the career recordbook for games, at-bats, runs, doubles, RBIs and walks. She has the most putouts in Malone history at first base as well.
 
Nowadays, you can find Snellgrove competing in CrossFit and has accumulated over 30 marathons and ultra-marathons completed. She has co-owned and operated CrossFit Fortress since 2020. Prior to that, she taught math for nearly 20 years and owned a custom baking business. She is married to Clay Snellgrove and has two boys, Canton and Cooper, and a dog named Reggie. Clay owns a baseball and softball academy called BasesLoaded in Christiana, Tennessee.

Brady West:
After attending Mount Vernon Nazarene for one year, Brady West transferred to Malone and had incredible success as a member of the Pioneers track and field team. West would become a three-time NAIA All-American and three-time NCCAA All-American in the heptathlon and decathlon.
 
In his first season with the program, West notched an individual NCCAA national championship in the decathlon with a score of 6033 points. He would post an even better score in 2006 when he repeated as national champion at 6332 points.
 
2007 featured West scoring NAIA All-American status in the heptathlon during the indoor season and the decathlon in the outdoor season. The indoor championships in Johnson City, Tennessee saw West break the school record in the heptathlon with a sixth-place score of 4483 points. He would notch another sixth-place spot in the decathlon in the outdoor season for his second straight NAIA All-American award.
 
During the indoor season of 2008, West made it three in a row with an NAIA All-American performance in the heptathlon once again. He wrapped up his incredible career with a third NCCAA national championship in the decathlon in the spring of 2008.
 
His career with Malone track and field was bookended by seventh-place finishes as a team at the NAIA National Championship meet in 2005 and 2008 under the direction of head coach Charlie Grimes.
 
To this day, West holds the school record in the heptathlon, a top-three score in the indoor pentathlon, a top five score in the decathlon and a top seven score in the javelin. His three national championship performances rank inside the top-20 all time in NAIA history.
 
The Zanesville, Ohio native graduated from Malone with a business administration degree and completed his MBA in 2012. He went on to marry his teammate and 2007 graduate Faith Nicholson and they have been married for 16 years and have four living children in Clayton, Leah, Micah and Jacob as well as three living with our savior in Easton, Savannah and Hope.
 
After navigating careers in manufacturing and human resources, West was called to attend Seminary and graduated with a Masters of Divinity from Luther Rice Seminary in 2022. In May of the same year, he was called to the First Baptist Church of Wheeling, West Virginia where West serves fulltime as the Family Life Pastor.