FHSU Athletics
Fort Hays State’s men had a solid showing at the MIAA Championships in St. Charles, Mo., held Friday through Sunday (May 1-3). Cory Keehn won his second race of the weekend, topping the 5,000 meter field, and Michael Kinuthia won the 1,500 meters, helping the Tigers to 76 points and a fifth-place finish as a team.
The Tigers entered the last event of the day in fourth place in the standings, but slid to fifth when Lincoln won the 4×400 meter relay and jumped the Tigers by a point in the standings. The Tigers held off Emporia State for fifth by one point. Pittsburg State won the men’s team title with 139 points, followed by Missouri Southern with 127 and Central Missouri with 111.
Keehn took the 5,000 meter run to put the Tigers in fourth in the standings at the time, running 15:12.65. He topped a field of 28 runners in the event. Keehn claimed his fourth MIAA title of 2015 with the win. He won both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters during indoor season, then in outdoor, won the 10,000 meters on Saturday and the 5,000 meters on Sunday. Keehn produced 20 points for the Tigers with his two wins in the meet. He was third among the top point-producing athletes in the meet.
Kinuthia took the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:57.18, besting a field of 24 runners. A sprinting kick at the finish helped him get past Adam Tredway of Central Missouri by just 0.26 seconds for the title. Along with the 10 points for his win in the 1,500 meters, Kinuthia finished sixth in the 800 meters to give FHSU three more points with a time of 1:58.96.
Keehn and Kinuthia were the only All-MIAA performers for the Tigers individually, but did so in winning fashion.
Brady Tien entered the MIAA Championships with the best mark of any MIAA competitor this year at 17 feet. Cole Phillips of Central Missouri changed that with a vault of 17-feet, 7.25-inches on Sunday to post the nation’s best mark. Tien went on to finish fourth in the event, clearing a height of 16-feet, 3.5-inches. His 17-foot effort just over a week ago is now tied for the fourth-best mark in the nation this year. Teammate Jake Morrow was fifth in the event at 15-feet, 11.75-inches to up his provisional qualifying mark of the year. The pair combined for nine points in the event.
Brenner Wells finished fifth in the javelin with a throw of 188-feet, 3-inches to score four points. Nate Simpson finished fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.86 seconds, while Evan Jennings was seventh in 15.09 seconds. The pair gave FHSU six points in the event. Jennings also finished seventh in the 400-meter hurdles with at time of 57.55 seconds to score two more points.
Derek Bixenman and Bryant Bombardier (each cleared 6-feet, 4.25-inches) finished sixth and seventh in the high jump respectively, combining to give FHSU five points. Rodrigo Alves was seventh in the 100 meters with a time of 10.71 seconds, generating two points. Stavros Stavrou gave the Tigers a point in the shot put by finishing eighth, throwing 48-feet, 6-inches.
The 4×100-meter relay team of Dillando Allotey, Alves, CJ Wilson, and Ed brown ran 41.80 seconds to finish fifth and give FHSU four points.