University Malone University NCAA Division II Location Canton, OH | Conference GMAC Athletic director Charles Grimes Varsity teams 20 | |
The Malone Pioneers are athletic teams of Malone University in Canton, Ohio, United States. The Pioneers compete in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC). Malone joined the GMAC after four seasons in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). Malone joined the GLIAC and Division II in 2011 and completed the NCAA Division II membership process in July 2013 after having previously competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). In 2016, the Pioneers will begin play in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, also known as the G-MAC.
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Baseball
A winning tradition was established on the baseball diamond at Malone by late NAIA Hall of Fame Coach Bob Starcher. Coach Starcher led the Pioneer baseball program for 23 seasons and accumulating 521 wins while at Malone. During Starcher’s tenure as head coach, the program experienced 19 winning seasons and 12 conference or district titles.
In 2007, the last baseball game was played on the site of long-time Bob Starcher Field at Malone College. The school plans to build new student dormitories on the site and for the 2008 season the baseball team will play their home games at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The college has plans to build a new on-campus baseball field in 2009.
Football
Malone College has played football continuously since 1993. The program began under head coach Joe Palmisano with a 23-23 tie against Bethany (WV) on September 4, 1993. Malone has an all-time record of 83 wins, 81 losses, and 2 ties.
Play outside NAIA
The Malone Pioneers are a member of the Mid-States Football Association, a conference that is made up of NAIA schools. However, Malone has managed a significant amount of play outside of the NAIA. Malone has a record of 7 wins and 11 losses against NCAA Division II teams and 23 wins, 20 losses and 2 ties against NCAA Division III schools.
Current program
See 2016 Malone Pioneers football teamThe current head football coach is Fred Thomas, who is in his first year at Malone (2016). He has taken over the program from Eric Hehman, who held the position from 2009 until 2015.
Track & Field/Cross-Country
There have been a total of 133 Men's NAIA track and field All-Americans and 17 NAIA national champions. On the woman's side, there have been 59 NAIA All-Americans and two national champions. Both of these totals include indoor and outdoor track and field. Keith Spiva is arguably the most accomplished track and field athlete produced by Malone. He won 4 NAIA national titles and was named an All-American 6 times. He is also the only Malone track and field athlete to win back-to-back national titles in a single event (1989 and 1990 200 meter dash). Christopher Sinick is the most decorated male athlete, with a total of 11 All-American awards in both cross country and track. Combination of track and field with cross-country accomplishments, there have been 69 additional Men's NAIA All-Americans and 28 Woman's NAIA All-Americans. Moreover, Malone has produced one Men's and one Woman's individual cross country national champions.
Malone has won the following national honors:
Volleyball
Women's Volleyball has been played at Malone since 1975 and has an all-time record of 699 wins, 544 losses, and 4 ties. The current coach Tanya Hockman has been head of the program since 1999 and has held the position longer than any other volleyball coach at Malone. The team competes in the American Mideast Conference North Division.
The Malone volleyball program has been an extremely successful one through the years, particularly in the mid 1980’s and now under eight-year head coach Tanya Hockman, who has led the team to a 213-118 record during her tenure. The 2001 team tied the school record for most wins in a season at 41 and the program has six 25+ win seasons in its last nine campaigns. The program also has two AMC titles (2000, 2001) under Hockman.