VICTORIA, Kan. – The Fort Hays State men’s cross country team wrapped up its regular season with a solid performance at the FHSU Tiger Open on Saturday morning (Oct. 7). The Tigers hosted the event at Sand Plum Nature Trial on a wet and muddy fall morning. The Tigers finished tenth overall and fifth among MIAA programs, totaling 263 team points.

A total of 820 runners competed in the four races, surpassing the previous record from last season’s race of 661 participants. 167 men took to the course in the eight-kilometer Gold Race.

Layton Werth navigated the course in 26:29.7 to finish 36th individually. Reed Rome earned a 44th place finish with a time of 26:44.8. Alex Barbosa finished in 63rd place (27:06.0) while Brett Meyer posted a time of 27:06.8 to finish 65th. Robert Loeffler rounded out the scoring for FHSU in 85th crossing the finish line in 27:20.9.

Western State took the team title after upsetting the top-ranked team in the country (Adams State), finishing with 51 points. Adams State completed the race with 77 team points, enough for second place. Central Missouri was the top MIAA team as they finished with 93 points. Mason Phillips captured the individual title with a time of 24:48.0.

The Tigers return to the course in two weeks when they travel to Warrensburg, Mo., to compete in the MIAA Championships on Saturday, October 21st. The race is set to commence at 11 a.m.