History
Cross Country at Malone college has a long history of success. Coach Jack Hazen came to Malone in 1967. The year before Coach Hazen's arrival the cross country team was cancelled because there were not enough runners for the team to compete. During Coach Hazen's first year he had to travel through the dorms to find a fifth runner so the team could even compete. The next season Coach Hazen led the team to qualifying for nationals. Including that season the Malone men's cross country team has won the national qualifying meet for forty straight years. Perhaps a streak that is unrivaled in college athletics.
The program progressed as the years went on. Year after year, Malone started to compete in larger and larger meets. Eventually both the men's and women's teams began running in primarily Division I meets against prominent national powers including Stanford, Oregon, Michigan, Penn State, and Notre Dame. The Malone teams still run against some of the best competition in the nation and continue to still do well in meets that are primarily Division I meets.
One of the meets that Malone competes in every year is the Ohio Intercollegiates. All of the colleges and universities in Ohio come to this meet to see what school is the best in the state that year. Malone's men's team is the only non-Division I school to win the meet overall. Malone has won the Ohio Intercollegiates overall seven times.
Malone Cross Country has one three NAIA National Championships, two for the men and one for the women. The men's team won an NAIA title in 1972 and the 2007 Malone Cross Country team won a national title with the second largest margin of victory in NAIA history. The women's team won a national title in 1999.