Fort Hays State women’s track and field turned in a pair of solid showings on Friday (Apr. 14) and Saturday (Apr. 15) when they participated in the KT Woodman Classic hosted by Wichita State and the UNK Invitational hosted by Nebraska-Kearney. For the week the Tigers saw seven first place finishes and four second place finishes, along with four provisional marks.

WICHITA, Kan. – Fort Hays State’s top two javelin throwers this season provided another great performance at the KT Woodman Classic at Wichita State. Estefania Lopez took home first place and hit a provisional mark with a throw of 151 feet, 4 inches, while Alexcia Deutscher hit a provisional mark and claimed fourth place with a toss of 140 feet, 11 inches. Neither improved on their best marks of the season as Deutscher has a mark of 149 feet and Lopez holds the top mark in the nation with a toss of 176 feet, 5 inches.

KEARNEY, Neb. – The Fort Hays State women claimed six first place finishes at the UNK Invitational on Saturday, along with four second place finishes.

Kelly Wycoff turned in three first place finishes at the UNK Invitational, which included the 400 meters (56.67 seconds), 200 meters (24.83 seconds). She teamed with Lindsay Shupe, Yanoudji Diarra and Amber Forbes in the 4×100 (48.32 seconds) for another win.

Selam Bell improved her provisional mark in the pole vault with a second-place finish, vaulting a height of 12 feet, 2 inches. That effort tied her for the 20^th on the national performance list. Courtney Geiger earned a provisional mark in the discus with a throw of 149 feet, 8 inches to finish seventh in the event. She was one of seven Division II throwers in the event that reached the provisional mark.

Shea Bonine added a first-place finish for the Tigers in the 800 meters (2:21.16) and Peri Lange picked up the win in the 400-meter hurdles (1:04.63). Bonine added a runner-up finish to her day when she was second in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:45.36.

As a team the Tigers swept the top three spots in the 5000 meter run. Yessenia Gonzales led the way with a time of 19:46.23, followed by Lisa Penner (20:11.84) and Keagan Davis (20:26.18) rounded out the top three.

Forbes also turned in a second place finish in the 200 meters with a time of 25.55 seconds. The final Tiger to reach the podium on the day was Lauren Roberts who picked up a third place finish with a time of 4:47.96 in the 1500 meter run.

Next up for the Tigers is a trip to Lawrence, Kan., where they will compete at the Kansas Relays Thursday and Friday (Apr. 20-21).

FHSU Sports Information

KEARNEY, Neb. – Fort Hays State men’s track and field turned in a solid showing on Saturday (Apr. 15) participating in the UNK Invitational. As a team the Tigers claimed 10 first and second place finishes, which included five of each. The Tiger men claimed six provisional marks overall, four of which were new season bests.

TJ Dozier picked up a pair of provisional marks in the hammer throw (187 feet, 1 inch) and the discus (172 feet, 3 inches) respectively. He finished second in both events. Both throws were his best of the season as he now sits 11th on the national performance list in the discus and 30th in the hammer throw.

Kolt Newell won the high jump with his best effort of the season at 6 feet, 9.5 inches. He upped his provisional mark and now has the 12th best jump in NCAA Division II this year. Brett Meyer also picked up a provisional mark by winning the 800 meters in a time of 1:51.75, the 15th fastest time in the country so far. Dillando Allotey won the 200 meters and posted a solid provisional time of 21.18 seconds, just .04 seconds shy of his best provisional mark of the season. He currently ranks ninth in the nation in the event. Sam Dreiling also hit a provisional mark in his runner-up finish in the pole vault. The vault for Dreiling came in at 15 feet, 7.25 inches, but was not his best of the year after clearing 16 feet, 1.25 inches earlier this season.

Rounding out the first place finishers for the Tigers were Oscar Carmona in the 1500 meters (4:04.95) and Reed Rome in the 5000 meters (16:09.20).

Allotey also picked up a second place finish in the 400 meters (48.27 seconds) and then teamed up with Keith Dryden, Colson Reames and Jacob Reames for a second place finish at in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:24.94.

A handful of FHSU men’s athletes competed at the KT Woodman Classic, hosted by Wichita State, but there were no provisional marks gained at that meet.

Next up for the Tigers is a trip to Lawrence, Kan. where they will compete at the Kansas Relays Thursday and Friday (Apr. 20-21).

FHSU Sports Information

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Softball split a conference doubleheader for the second straight day, this time with Northwest Missouri State on Saturday (Apr. 15). Like Friday, the Tigers took game one by one run, 2-1, but then fell in the second game 7-4. FHSU is now 13-37 overall, 6-18 in the MIAA, while NWMSU went to 24-16 overall, 13-7 in the MIAA.

Adrian Pilkington Postgame Interview

Game 1: Fort Hays State 2, Northwest Missouri State 1
Game one of the doubleheader blazed along, finishing in just 57 minutes. Hailey Chapman came out on the good end of a 2-1 pitcher’s duel, as the defense behind her played excellent.

Game 1 Highlights

Northwest Missouri State pitcher Taylor Blackford peppered the strike zone consistently throughout the game and had a perfect game through four innings with the Bearcats up 1-0. In the fifth, though, she ran into trouble by hitting Veronica Knittig to start the inning. Claudia Vazquez pinch ran and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tess Gray. With two outs, Bailey Boxberger broke up both the no-hitter and shutout with a rocket RBI double over the center fielder’s head. A batter later, Kylie Strand untied the game with an RBI single to left center field.

That was all Hailey Chapman needed in the circle as she kept the Bearcats off balance enough throughout the contest. Despite giving up two well-placed doubles and a run in the first inning, Chapman allowed just three hits the rest of the way for her eighth win of the season in a complete game effort. She walked just one and struck out two in her complete game effort.

Blackford moved to 11-5 on the season with the loss for NWMSU. Other than Fort Hays State’s two timely hits in the fifth, she allowed just three hits overall, while striking out three. She threw just 49 pitches for the game.

Game 2: Northwest Missouri State 7, Fort Hays State 4
Most of the scoring in game two occurred late as the Bearcats and Tigers were tied 1-1 through four innings. NWMSU took the lead 2-1 in the fifth on Fort Hays State’s first error of the entire weekend. Lily Sale looked a runner back to third on a ground ball, but threw wide of the first base bag, allowing the run to come into score.

Game 2 Highlights

Hailey Chapman got the nod in the pitching circle once again after throwing 88 pitches in game one. She continued to hold the Bearcats relatively quiet until the sixth inning when she did not get the benefit of a couple borderline pitches. It looked as though she might have had strike three to the first batter of the inning, but was ruled a ball and the batter proceeded to double. Later in the inning with the bases loaded and two outs, she fell behind in the count 3-1 and did not get the benefit of a borderline call on the inside corner, walking in a run. Following that, Kaitlyn Weis doubled in three more runs and instantly made the score 6-1 in favor of NWMSU.

The Tigers did not go down without a fight and took advantage of two Northwest Missouri error in the bottom of the sixth to plate three runs. Bailey Kennedy singled home two runs and Lily Sale singled home one to make it 6-4.

The Bearcats picked up an insurance run in the seventh with a triple and single to lead off the inning, but the Tigers still threatened in the bottom of the seventh. FHSU batters were not fooled at all by Weis, who relieved Holly Posegate the final two innings. Veronica Knittig led off the inning with a double, but well placed fielders helped NWMSU escape trouble in the seventh. Tess Gray hit a missile back up the middle snared out of the air by Weis in the pitching circle for a tough-luck first out. Bailey Boxberger grounded a ball up the middle and just beat the off balance throw of the second baseman at first to put runners on at first and third. Collette West, who had an RBI single early in the game, tagged a ball on a line to right field, but lucky for NWMSU it was right at the fielder for the second out. Kylie Strand then grounded out to short to end the game.

Posegate picked up the win for the Bearcats, moving to 10-6 on the season. She allowed one run on five hits with one strikeout. Weis allowed three unearned runs in relief for the Bearcats on four hits. Chapman took the loss for FHSU, throwing her second complete game of the day. She allowed seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits and four walks with a strikeout. Sale, Knittig, and Boxberger all had two hits in the game.

The Tigers play a non-conference doubleheader with Newman University on Wednesday (Apr. 19) in Hays. Start time is set for 3 pm.

FHSU Sports Information