FHSU Men’s Cross Country Takes First, Women Second at ESU Invitational

Men Take First
Fort Hays State men’s cross country emerged as the champion at the ESU Invitational in Emporia, Kan. on Friday evening. Isaac Mills and Cory Keehn paced the Tigers to the title by finishing fifth and sixth respectively as individuals, in a race with 171 runners and 19 teams. The Tigers defeated University of Saint Mary by 18 points to win.

Fort Hays State posted a score of 66, getting team-point placings of 5, 6, 15, 18 and 22. Mills led the way for FHSU in fifth overall, with a time of 26:36 on the 8K course. Keehn was five seconds back of Mills in sixth overall with a time of 26:41. Bernard Keter of Cloud County (Kan.) Community College won the individual title with a time of 25:43, over 30 seconds faster than the second place finisher.

FHSU's Isaac Mills finishes fifth to pace Tigers at ESU Invite Friday evening. — FHSU’s Isaac Mills finishes fifth to pace Tigers at ESU Invite Friday evening.

Chris Ramsgard finished 17th overall with a time of 27:23 and Jonny Bernansky was 22nd in 27:42. Rounding out the team score for FHSU was Ryan Hopkins in 26th overall with a time of 27:49.

Fort Hays State and Saint Mary were the only two schools to post team scores under 100. Newman was third with 115 and Emporia State finished fourth at its home meet with 118.

Women Finish Second

FHSU's Hannah Robinson finishes 11th to lead Tiger women at ESU Invite Friday. — FHSU’s Hannah Robinson finishes 11th to lead Tiger women at ESU Invite Friday.

The Tiger women finished second out of 16 teams. Hannah Robinson paced the Tigers by finishing 11th overall in a field of 154 runners. Fort Hays State finished just eight points behind team champion Baker University.

The Tigers packed together to stay near the top of the team standings. Even though FHSU did not have a top 10 finisher overall, Fort Hays State had four runners finish together in the 14th through 17th overall positions. A pair of runners were all that separated Robinson from the rest of her top five scoring teammates.

Robinson covered the 5K course in a time of 20:05, almost a minute off the winning pace of 19:08 by Lauren Jaqua from Baker University. Micki Krzesinski was the next Tiger to finish in 20:12. Kylie Gaughan was the third FHSU runner to cross the line, two seconds back in 20:14, while Marie Schaller and Ramsey McCarter were staggered just one second each behind that in 20:15 and 20:16 respectively.

Both teams take a week off before getting set to host their home meet, the FHSU Open, held at Sand Plum Nature Trail just outside of Victoria, Kan., about 10 miles east of Hays. The FHSU Open is slated for October 12.

— FHSU Sports Information —