Get to know your Orange runners: Mary Malone and Joel Hubbard

Today’s “Get to Know Your Orange Runner” looks at two returning members from last year’s Syracuse Orange NCAA teams: Mary Malone and Joel Hubbard. In this year, alums Margo Malone and Martin Hehir have contributed their thoughts as we look at the anticipated top 10 from the men’s and women’s squads.

Brian Vasey

Name: Mary Malone

Year: Junior

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA

High School: Northern Hills

2015 Performances:

NCAA Championships- 230th place

John Reif Memorial Invitational- 1st place

Wisconsin Meet of Champions- 54th place

Harry Lang Invitational- 50th place

Margo Says:

Mary is persistent in her training and always looks for ways to better herself and the team. She put in a great summer of training and will be a key contributor for the team. She is good at keeping the mood light in the locker room and before races. Mary is ready to fly.

Kevin’s Preview:

Mary finished the season by earning her spot in the top 7 for the NCAA meet. It’s not easy for a runner to bounce back after losing their spot in the lineup, but she obviously Expectations are that she can continue to build on last year and continue working towards the top of the Orange line-up this year. It seemed this summer that Mary’s ready to provide leadership to the women’s team and this could be the year she breaks through.

Brian Vasey

Name: Joel Hubbard

Year: Senior

Hometown: Marshfield, Mass

High School: Marshfield

2015 Performances:

NCAA Championships- 47th place

NCAA Northeast Regional-11th place

ACC Championships- 35th place

Wisconsin Meet of Champions- 28th place

Coast-to-Coast Battle- 7th place

Spiked Shoe Invitational- 6th place

Martin Says:

Joel is the perfect model for knowing what works best for him as a runner and sticking with it. He runs with heart, especially when the team is depending on him. The young guys will learn a lot from him and likely seek out his mom's famous chicken parm recipe.

Kevin’s Preview:

Joel turned in a very strong, and underrated, performance at the 2015 NCAA meet. Known mostly as a miler, his top 50 finish helped Syracuse hold off Colorado for the title. It was a huge improvement from his 165th place finish in 2014 and certainly shows Joel’s progression as an all-around runner. I can’t vouch for the chicken parm recipe, but Joel’s sub 4-minute mile speed can pay dividends in the final stages of races this season.

Syracuse is back in action this Saturday at the Penn State Spiked Shoe Invitational. We’ll be back tomorrow with another GTKYOR profile.