Normal- For the first time in three years, a member of the Maroon & White track team has qualified for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I East Outdoor Regional meet.
Marion Malone ran a career best 10.68-second 100-meter dash at the Austin Peay State University Invitational in Clarksville, Tennessee to qualify.
Malone’s time of 10.68 ranks him 64th nationally in the 100-meter dash and gained him entry to the regional meet hosted by North Carolina A&T University. Malone shaved two tenths of a second of his previous personal best of 10.87 during the APSU Invitational.
A&M Sports Information sat down with the mulit-event athlete:
What helped you achieve this new personal best?
“I’m a decathlete, so I went from working mostly on my field events to focusing on the basics, the 100, the long jump and the pole vault. With me focusing on the 100, I’m starting to get into it, and it’s really showing. I was able to shave two tenths off my personal record which is a lot for the 100-meters,”mentioned Malone.
How does it feel to be the first athlete from A&M to qualify for the regional in three years?
“It feels really good. I feel now I am able to leave my mark in A&M’s history”
Malone has competed at NCA&T before. In the summer of 2009, Malone participated in the Junior Olympics as a decathlete and won the second place silver medal. As the second best decathlete in the nation coming out of Mobile, Alabama’s Blount High School, Malone decided to attend Alabama A&M University.
What made you choose to purse higher education on “The Hill”?
“My family has a tradition of going to A&M. My brother graduated in 2006 and I want to follow in his footsteps. He is the person I look up to, he has had diabetes since he was 12, and he is so strong. I want to do everything he does, he is my role model”, reveals Marion.
Now that you have this accomplishment under your belt, what are you looking forward to throughout the rest of the season?
“I’m looking forward to running faster times. Right now, we are only in the middle of the season and I’m running this fast already. I just want to get better, Malone adds enthusiastically. “We compete at Auburn this weekend, and I hope that they are able to push me to run faster”.
What will you focus on moving forward, will you continue to concentrate solely on the 100-meter dash and not on your other events?
“It depends on how things are going about two weeks out ofSWAC. I don’t want to put energy into areas where I am not doing well; I want to focus on something I know I’m going to do well. I don’t need any wasted energy prior to the SWAC Championships,” says Malone. “I am currently the leading decathlete in the conference; I think I am going to take that championship. I really want to get something out of the 100”, adds Malone.
Malone has three meets left prior to the NCAA Division I East Regional including the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championships. He along with the rest of the Maroon & White will return to action April 5th& 6th at the Auburn Tiger Classic.
