KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In the MIAA Preseason Coaches’ Poll, released Thursday (Aug. 24), the Fort Hays State men’s cross country team was picked sixth as competition will get running soon. The Tigers are coming off a fourth place finish in the MIAA Championships last fall.
The Tigers captured 60 total points on the poll, placing them behind Pittsburg State who rounded-out the top five this edition. Missouri Southern garnered nine first-place votes to top the preseason edition of the standings with 98 total points.
After losing two of the top runners on the squad in Troy Wineinger and Jacob Thomas to graduation, the Tigers will look to the remaining athletes to see who will break out this season. Sophomore Layton Werth, who finished an FHSU-best out of the returners at the 2016 MIAA Championships coming in at No. 31, looks to better that place while leading the Tigers for his junior campaign.
Along with Werth, Fort Hays State bring two seniors into the 2017 run with Oscar Carmona and Jason Foster are back to anchor head coach Jason McCullough’s team while they finish out their collegiate running careers. Carmona earned a 38th place finish at the conference championships last season while recording a 33:04.4 in the 10K at the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships – good for a personal best.
As far as the younger runners go, sophomore Kaleb Crum is back for another year after having a strong freshman season. Crum placed 54th at the conference meet. Of the newcomers, Robbie Schmidt, Marcelo Cruz and Marcus Tula all join the Tigers after having successful high school careers in the state of Kansas. Coach McCullough is also excited about the transfer of Bill Oyet who comes to Hays from Iowa Western Community College, with a 1,500m national title to his name.
On Saturday (Aug. 26), Fort Hays State University will host its 31st annual Alumni Run at the Sand Plum Nature Trail in Victoria, Kan. The gun will shoot at 9:30 a.m. You can also see the Tigers in Hays on Saturday Oct. 7 when they host the FHSU Tiger Open starting at 9:00 a.m.
2017 MIAA Preseason Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Poll
1. Missouri Southern (9) 98
2. Northwest Missouri (2) 78
3. Nebraska-Kearney 71
4. Southwest Baptist 68
5. Pittsburg State 67
6. Fort Hays State 60
7. Lindenwood 59
8. Central Missouri 39
9. Washburn 32
10. Emporia State 19
11. Missouri Western 14
FHSU Sports Information