KENOSHA, Wis. - Malone defeated Azusa Pacific (Calif.) by 57 points to win the NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championship. The Pioneers won their second straight and third overall title.
Malone placed three runners in the Top 10 and posted a score of 61 points while Azusa Pacific finished with 118 points. Aquinas (Mich.) scored 194 points for third place and Southern Oregon finished three points behind with 197 points for fourth.
Indiana Tech, 245 points; Concordia (Neb.), 249 points; Embry-Riddle (Fla.), 263 points; Black Hills State (S.D.), 281; Concordia (Ore.), 288 points; and Huntington (Ind.), 308 points, all finished in the Top 10. Shawnee State was 11th in the 32-team field with 321 points while Cedarville was 19th with 450 points.
Aron Rono of Azusa Pacific (Calif.) won the individual title for second straight season with a time of 23:46 while teammate Abednego Magut cross the line third in 24:32. Malone’s Nik Schweikert (24:03) finished second and Aaron Melhorn (24:37) placed fifth. Jordan Powell of Oklahoma Christian came in fourth with a time of 24:35.1 to rounded out the top five.
Other All-Americans (top 30 finishers) for Malone included Paul Robinson (11th) and James Zeuch (16th). Shawnee State’s Keegan Rathkamp was 10th and Houghton’s Dan Ballard finished 13th for All-America honors.
The 2008 NAIA Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year honors went to Jack Hazen of Malone College. He also earned the honors in 1972 and 2007 after leading the Pioneers to their first two titles.
[TEAM RESULTS]
[INDIVIDUAL RESULTS]