INDIANAPOLIS – The Fort Hays State men’s cross country team will compete in the 2019 NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships after earning an at-large bid, announced Monday (Nov. 11) by the NCAA. The Tigers will compete against 33 other schools for a national title on Saturday, Nov. 23 in Sacramento, Calif. The 10-kilometer championship race is scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m. CT (11:15 a.m. PT) from the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex.

It is the Tigers’ fifth trip to the national meet since joining the NCAA in 1991, and their first appearance since 2002. Fort Hays State was one of five teams from the Central Region selected after finishing fourth at the regional championships over the weekend.

In Fort Hays State’s four previous trips to the national meet, the Tigers have placed 13th in 1994, 10th in 1997, 21st in 2001 and 10th in 2002.

Fort Hays State last sent a team to the national meet in 2016 when the women’s team qualified for the third time in team history.

The men were last represented in the National Championships in 2015 when Corey Keehn qualified as an individual for the third time in his career. Keehn earned All-America honors as a senior in 2015 after a 13th-place finish.

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State and Northwest Missouri State have made a habit of producing instant classics the last three years. After FHSU claimed two straight wins in Maryville, each by one point, the Bearcats countered with a 36-33 double overtime at Lewis Field Stadium Saturday in front of 6.137 at Lewis Field.

Dante Brown’s 56-yard field goal as time expired tied the game 26-26 to force overtime. Both teams scored touchdowns on their first overtime possession. After the Tigers fumbled on 3rd-and one on their second possession, the Bearcats Parker Sampson hit a 38-yard field goal to lift the Bearcats to a 36-33 win which in all likelihood ends the Tiger playoff hopes.

The Tigers (7-3) came out on fire, scoring the game’s first 17 points and led 17-0 at the 13:36 mark of the second quarter. Dante Brown hit a 25-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive. Harley Hazlett crossed the goal line on a nine-yard touchdown run on the final play of the first quarter. An NWMSU fumble deep in Tiger territory set up 20-yard touchdown pass from Hazlett to Manny Ramsey.

The Bearcats (9-1) used big plays to get back in the game. Quarterback Braden Wright found Gus Gomez for a 54-yard pass that took the ball down to the FHSU one yard line. Wright then plunged into the endzone one play later to get teh Bearcats on the board.

The Bearcat defense stuffed a Tiger run on fourth and one near midfield then scored three plays later when Wright found Imoni Donadelle on a 42-yard touchdown pass to pull within 17-14.

Chance Fuller threw the first of his two interceptions near midfield on the Tigers next possession which led to a 41-yard Parker Sampson field goal which tied the game 17-17 just over six minutes after FHSU built its 17-point lead.

After a Northwest punt pinned the Tigers at their own one, the Bearcats tackled Te’Corey Tutson in the endzone for a safety to give the Bearcats a 19-17 lead at halftime.

The Tigers retook the lead on the first possession of the third quarter, getting down to the NWMSU 10 before Dante Brown booted a 27-yard field goal top put FHSU up 20-19.

The Bearcats responded with a 9-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by a 9-yard pass from Wright to Justin Rankin to put Northwest back on top 26-20.

Brown’s third field goal, a 38-yarder with 12:25 to play cut the gap to 26-23. After neither team could muster much over the next five possessions, FHSU got the ball back with 1:05 to play. Three straight pass completions of 12, 24, and 15 yards moved the ball to the Northwest 30 yard line with 12 seconds remaining. A sack pushed the ball back to the 39 with five seconds to play setting up Brown’s career-long 56-yard field goal to force overtime.

Northwest scored a touchdown on a five-yard pass from Wright to Donadelle on thier first overtime possession. The Tigers responded with a 25-yard strike from Fuller to Dandre Reed.

Harley Hazlett fumbled when he reached the ball out trying to convert on third an one. The Bearcats then kicked to game-winning field goal.

Fuller had 342 passing yards, completing 30-of-54 attempts. Ramsey finished with a team-high 115 receiving yards, followed by Hazlett with 86. The Tigers struggled to just 33 rushing yards, led by Te’Corey Tutson with 26. Jordan Starks led the Tiger defense with 12 tackles and an interception, while Drew Harvey added 10 tackles.

Wright led the Bearcat offense with 279 passing yards and 96 rushing yards. Donadelle had a team-high 70 receiving yards for NWMSU. Blake Bayer and Jackson Barnes had a team-high eight tackles each.

The Tigers close out the 2019 regular season next Saturday at Northeastern State.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Fort Hays State limited Southwestern Oklahoma State to just 29.8 percent shooting from the field to grind out a low-scoring battle on Saturday by a score of 58-53. The Tigers moved to 2-0 on the season after a 10-point win over Arkansas Tech the night before. The Bulldogs moved to 1-1 overall.

The Tigers built a 27-20 lead by halftime, limiting the Bulldogs to just nine points in the first 10 minutes and 11 in the next 10 minutes. Calvin Harrington provided a third of the team’s scoring in the opening half with nine points, canning a pair of three-point field goals and adding an old-fashioned three-point play. Jake Hutchings made a one-point lead seven in the final minute of the half with a three-point play and three-point field goal. Fort Hays State’s largest lead in the half was eight when it led 11-3.

Southwestern Oklahoma opened the second half on a 10-2 run to take a 30-29 lead, but that was the only advantage it enjoyed in the second half. SWOSU tied the game twice before FHSU took the lead for good on a Hutchings layup with 9:10 remaining. That bucket triggered an 11-2 run by the Tigers to lead by nine, their largest advantage of the game. The margin reached nine one more time on a Jared Vitztum 3-point field goal with 4:15 to play, but SWOSU trimmed the lead back down to three with just 1:15 on the clock.

Southwestern Oklahoma had one possession with a chance to tie or pull within one, but missed two chances. Aaron Nicholson closed out the game for FHSU from that point, hitting all four of his free throws inside the final 23 seconds. Nicholson was 8-of-8 at the charity stripe in the game for all eight of his points.

Vitztum led the way for FHSU with 15 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 at the free-throw line. He was 2-of-2 beyond the 3-point line. Harrington finished with 12 points, canning three shots beyond the 3-point line, while Hutchings added 11. FHSU shot 38.3 percent as a team, but made up for it with a 94.1 percent effort at the free-throw line (16-of-17).

Damion Thornton led the Bulldog scoring effort with 14 points, while Marquis Johnson added 10.

Fort Hays State heads to Colorado next weekend for another pair of games. FHSU takes on Colorado School of Mines on Saturday (Nov. 16) before facing UC-Colorado Springs on Sunday.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The No. 7/3 Fort Hays State women’s basketball team dominated early and late in a 67-54 win over Concordia-St. Paul Saturday (Nov. 9) The Tigers move to 2-0 to start the year for the fifth-consecutive year, while the Golden Bears finish the opening weekend 1-1.

Kacey Kennett led the team with 20 points in the win, including a pair of free throws with 8:05 to play that gave the Tigers the lead for good. The shots did more than that, however, as the first make gave the senior 1,000 points for her career. Kennett now sits at 1,004 career points, becoming the 21st player in program history to reach that threshold.

Lanie Page opened the game with a 3-pointer for the second time in as many days, propelling the Tigers to an early 9-2 lead. Concordia-St. Paul scored 10 of the next 12 points to take a 12-11 lead later in the quarter, handing the Tigers their first deficit of the season. FHSU responded by scoring the final 11 points of the quarter, holding CSP scoreless for the final 2:53 of game action.

Whitney Randall opened the run with a made jumper off a pass from Taylor Rolfs before Page made a put-back layup following an offensive rebound. The Wamego, Kan. senior tallied two more points at the charity stripe before Randall finished off the quarter with five points in less than a minute. Both Randall and Page scored seven points in the opening 10 minutes of action.

After knocking down 45 percent (9-of-20) from the floor in the opening quarter, FHSU went cold from the floor over the next 10 minutes. The Tigers made just one field goal in the second stanza on their final shot of the quarter, finishing 1-for-13 (7.7 percent). FHSU was able to maintain a halftime lead thanks to a 7-for-8 effort from the free-throw line. The Golden Bears mounted a rally thanks to five made 3-pointers in the frame (5-of-8, 62.5 percent).

Fort Hays State built the lead back up to nine midway through the third quarter thanks to six more points from Kennett, but another ice cold stretch from the Tigers allowed CSP back into the game. The Golden Bears closed the period on a 12-2 run, including a buzzer-beating layup to take a 46-45 lead into the final frame.

Kennett buried a 3-pointer early in the fourth to put the Tigers back on top before CSP answered right back with a triple of their own. Fort Hays State responded with a ferocious finish to the contest, using 19-2 run over the next seven minutes to seal the victory. The Tigers shot 6-of-9 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line over that stretch while forcing eight turnovers and making six steals on defense.

Kennett swiped an astounding five steals in the final quarter to help the Tigers take back control. She finished the game by matching her career-best with seven steals, becoming the first Tiger with at least seven steals in a game since December 2017 (Kennett, 7 steals vs. Midland, 12/19/17). The Olathe, Kan. senior also matched her career-high with a team-best five asssits.

After setting a new career-best with 14 rebounds Friday, Belle Barbieri eclipsed that mark with 16 boards in Saturday’s win. She added 13 points to record the eighth double-double of her career.

Page added 13 points, including a 6-for-6 effort from the charity stripe. Taylor Rolfs totaled six points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals. Jaden Hobbs totaled eight points, three assists and one steal, including six points in the final quarter to help the Tigers reestablish the lead.

Fort Hays State finished the game with a 35.4 percent (23-of-65) effort from the floor, just above CSP’s shooting percentage of 33.3 percent (18-of-54). The Tigers took care of the ball much better than they did on Friday, turning the ball over just 12 times. The defense was busy for the second day in a row, forcing 20 Golden Bear turnovers thanks in part to 12 steals. FHSU held a 45-38 edge in rebounding, including a 16-8 margin on the offensive glass.

The Tigers return to Hays next weekend to host a pair of non-conference opponents. FHSU makes its home debut against Adams State on Friday (Nov. 15) at 7 p.m. before hosting Cameron at 5 p.m. Saturday. Additionally, Nebraska-Kearney will take on the opposite teams two hours prior to FHSU’s first tip.

SHAWNEE, Okla. – Following their 6-1 rout of Southern Nazarene, Fort Hays State men’s soccer headed on the road Saturday night to face off against Oklahoma Baptist. FHSU proved victorious at the conclusion of 90 minutes plus an additional one minute and 20 seconds of play, defeating the Bison 3-2.

The Black and Gold, entered the contest 11-5-1, and now improve to 12 wins to round out the regular season.

FHSU struck first against the Bison when Arsenio Chamorro grabbed his third goal of the season. Chamorro, along with Agudelo began the fast break for the Tigers. With Agudelo running strong, he played an early cross to Chamorro who finished his shot at the far post.

Just three minutes later, Agudelo was in action again. Having already created one assist in the match, the senior forward turned his defender, took a big touch into the box, and finished at the far post for his 13th goal of the season.

Out of the half, Oklahoma Baptist began finding control within their play. In the 51st minute, Nalan Kentner was the receipient from a grounded cross by Dominic Gibson. Gibson played the ball across the six-yard box and Kentner tapped the ball into the back of the net.

Not even two minutes later, the Bison struck again and tied up the contest when Bruno Feirrera’s touch deflected off of a Tiger defender. Feirrera continued to collect the ball off of the defender and finished past the outstretched arms of Cullen Fisch.

Following the pair of Bison goals, the match was played evenly throughout the rest of the second half.

It wasn’t until the 91st minute that the a lead was regained. Santiago Agudelo was lead by a long ball down the middle of the field from Agustin Meza. Agudelo collected the bouncing ball and finished it past goalkeeper Elias Diaz, who had sprinted off of his line.

Agudelo finished the contest with two of the three FHSU goals on eight total shots, four of which hit the target. Collectively, the Tigers registered 17 shots in the 91 minutes of play. Chamorro also finished the night with a goal and an assist.

On the other end of the pitch, Fisch was needed for four saves during the match.

Ending the 2019 campaign atop the GAC, the Tigers clinched the regular season GAC title as well as home field advantage for the Great American Conference tournament next weekend (Nov. 15-Nov. 17).

Rogers State, who has accumulated a streak of five wins has been locked in as the second seed for the tournament, while the rest of placements are to be determined.

JOPLIN, Mo. – The Fort Hays State men’s cross country team posted a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships Saturday (Nov. 9). It is the Tigers’ best finish at the regional meet since 2006 when the Tigers placed fourth in the South Central Regional in Warrensburg, Mo. Fort Hays State totaled 144 points in the race that featured 27 teams and 192 individuals.

With the strong performance, the Tigers made a firm case for an at large bid into the 2019 NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships. The top three teams in each of eight regions earn an automatic bid, with 10 more teams being selected from the remainder of the top-finishing teams across the country. FHSU will learn its fate when the full national championship field is announced on Monday (Nov. 11).

Three runners earned All-Region status for the Tigers, with all five scorers finishing in the top 46. Reed Rome finished 19th to earn All-Region honors, completing the 10-kilometer course in 31:21.4. Israel Barco (31:30.5) and Seppe van ‘t Westende (31:30.8) earned two of the final four spots on the All-Region podium, placing 22nd and 24th, respectively. Justin Moore navigated the course in 31:30.8, good for 33rd place. Robbie Schmidt turned in a time of 32:05.6, finishing 46th.

Host Missouri Southern captured its second consecutive regional title with a team score of 52 points, placing five runners in the top 20. Northwest Missouri State finished second, followed by Augustana in third. MSSU’s Gidieon Kimutai won the race for the second year in a row, turning in a time of 29:14.5.

After finishing fourth at the conference championships two weeks ago, the Tigers were the third-highest MIAA finisher Saturday. FHSU comfortably defeated Nebraska-Kearney, Pittsburg State, Central Missouri, Emporia State, Missouri Western, Washburn and Rogers State.

Complete FHSU Results
Place – Name – Time
19 – Reed Rome – 31:21.4
22 – Israel Barco – 31:30.5
24 – Seppe van ‘t Westende – 31:30.8
33 – Justin Moore – 31:50.5
46 – Robbie Schmidt – 32:05.6
49 – Peter Franklin – 32:15.8
65 – Kaleb Crum – 32:34.9

JOPLIN, Mo. – The Fort Hays State women’s cross country team wrapped up its 2019 schedule with a 13th-place finish at the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships Saturday (Nov. 9). Missouri Southern hosted 32 teams and 223 runners in the six-kilometer race at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course. The Tigers accumulated 371 points on the day.

Brooke Navarro led the Tigers with a time of 22:38.11, good for 36th place. Abigail Stewart finished 42nd after crossing the line in 22:43.17. Tessa Durnell moved up seven spots from her regional finish a year ago, placing 81st with a time of 23:17.89. Averi Wilson turned in a time of 23:51.59 to finish in 104th place, while Emily Salmans rounded out the top five in 115th place (24:01.93).

Augustana won the regional with a team total of 41 points. U-Mary, winners of the last two Central Region titles, finished second. MIAA champion Pittsburg State placed third. Ida Narbuvoll of U-Mary won the race with a time of 20:08.11.

After placing sixth at the MIAA Championships, the Tigers were the fifth-best league program this week, defeating Missouri Western, Emporia State, Washburn, Northwest Missouri State, Rogers State and Newman.

Complete FHSU Results
Place – Name – Time
36 – Brooke Navarro – 22:38.2
42 – Abigail Stewart – 22:43.2
81 – Tessa Durnell – 23:17.9
104 – Averi Wilson – 23:51.6
115 – Emily Salmans – 24:02.0
141 – Carson Pierce – 24:35.7
158 – Mya Navarro – 24:59.7

EDMOND, Okla. – Fort Hays State could not get much going offensively as it fell 3-0 to Central Oklahoma in the MIAA Tournament Quaterfinals on Friday night (Nov. 8). The Tigers wrap their season at 10-6-2, while the Bronchos advance to the semifinal round at 13-4-2.

The Bronchos outshot the Tigers 12-1 in the first half. Cailey Perkins was responsible for the only Tiger shot in the first 45 minutes. In the 28th minute, UCO’s Kelsie Eason was fouled in the box, prompting an early penalty kick opportunity. Eason stepped up and knocked in her 16th goal of the season. Just five minutes later, Eason extended the lead for the Bronchos. Taryn Kedzoir dribbled down the left side of the field and crossed in a ball into the box. Eason was able to head the crossing pass through Megan Kneefel for her second of the game and 17th of the year.

The Tigers were able to test UCO’s goalkeeper Kaitlyn Asher with four shots in the second half, but none found the back of the net. Central Oklahoma tripled their lead with a goal in the 66th minute. Meridith WIlson crossed the ball from the right side of the field, landing behind the Tiger backline at the feet of Haley Post. Post volleyed the deep cross over Kneefel and the Bronchos pulled further away, 3-0.

Central Oklahoma attacked Kneefel all night with 20 shots at the senior goalkeeper. Kneefel made 11 saves out of 14 shots on goal, closing the year with an individual record of 9-5-2. Haley Post led the way for the Bronchos with seven shots, all on goal.

Fort Hays State finished with five shots on the night, including two on goal. Jenna Prince led the Tigers with two shots and one on goal.

The Tigers had a strong defensive season, allowing less than a goal per match (0.92) to their opponents. Fort Hays State shutout opponents in nine of 18 matches in 2019.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Fort Hays State picked up a win in its season opener on Friday night (Nov. 8) by a score of 88-78 over Arkansas Tech. The Tigers controlled the game for nearly 33 minutes until having to hold off a late push by the Wonder Boys.

The Tigers used strong defense in the first half to build a strong halftime lead of 13 points, 44-31. FHSU built a big lead early with an 18-0 run that spanned over seven minutes from the 15:33 to 8:07 marks, going up 27-8 early. FHSU held Arkansas Tech in single digits for the first 12 minutes until a bucket at the 7:55 mark snapped the big run. Arkansas Tech cut the lead back to 10 before FHSU eventually took the 13-point lead into halftime. FHSU shot 47 percent in the opening half, while holding ATU to 29 percent.

The Tigers stormed out of the gates in the second half with a 10-0 run to push their lead to 23, 54-31, when Arkansas Tech missed its first two shot attempts and turned the ball over twice. The lead hovered around 20 points for a while until the Tigers took their biggest lead of 25 points at the 12:52 mark, 61-36. The lead remained at 20 or more until an ATU bucket at 8:00 cut the lead to 19.

FHSU pushed the lead to at least 20 twice more until Arkansas Tech sped up the pace of play and started to make a run late. A 14-5 run by Arkansas Tech whittled the FHSU lead down to 11 by the 4:00 mark. FHSU pushed its lead back to 14, but ATU kept chipping away and cut the lead under 10 points with 2:02 to play. The Tigers saw their lead eventually trimmed to six with 21 seconds to play, but a pair of Aaron Nicholson free throws pushed the lead back to eight and put the game out of reach. Nicholson was big for the Tigers at the charity stripe down the stretch, where he went 6-of-6 over the final three minutes of the game.

Nyjee Wright led the Tigers with a career-high 22 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the field. He was also solid at the free-throw line with a 4-of-4 effort. He hit a pair of big shots late while the Wonder Boys were making their burst at the Tigers, hitting a floater in the lane after the lead dropped to nine and then a 3-point field goal with a minute remaining after the lead fell to eight.

Nicholson was the second-leading scorer for the Tigers with 16 points, while Devin Davis had 12. Gilbert Peters had a strong collegiate debut with 14 points, going 6-of-11 from the field. Davis and Peters led the way for FHSU in the first half, each with 10 points.

Dillon Gooding led the Arkansas Tech scoring effort with 22 points, hitting nine field goals, four of which were of the 3-point variety. Ramses Sandifer and R.J. Glasper each had 15 points.

FHSU finished the game at 43.7 percent from the field, while holding ATU on its home floor to 39.7 percent. FHSU won the battle on the glass 47-37, and the turnover column 18-12. The Tigers had 18 offensive rebounds, which allowed them to generate 19 second-chance points.

The Tigers now turn their focus to a matchup with Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday at 3 pm. The game will be available on radio in the Hays area on KFIX, 96.9 FM, while live stats and video will be available once again.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Fort Hays State volleyball team played a decisive fifth set for the third time in the last two weeks Thursday, but the Tigers were unable to take advantage of the opportunity against Missouri Western. FHSU saved a pair of match points to tie things up at 14 in the final frame, but the Griffons later scored back-to-back points to win the final set, 17-15, and the match, 3-2 (25-17, 8-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-17).

The Tigers are now 6-20 overall and 3-15 in conference play, while the Griffons are now 15-11 on the year and 9-8 in league action.

After the teams went back and forth early in the first set, the Tigers used a 14-5 run to pull away late and win the set, 25-17. FHSU posted an efficient .250 attack percentage, totaling 15 kills and just five attack errors.

The momentum of the first-set win did not last long, as Missouri Western scored 19 of the first 20 points in the second set to take a commanding lead. The Tigers scored five straight points later in the set, but it was too little, too late for FHSU.

Missouri Western continued the hot streak early in the third set, jumping out to a 13-6 lead. FHSU bounced back to score the next six points, closing within one. The Griffons managed to respond just before the Tigers tied things up, scoring the next three points to pad the lead to four. The Tigers closed within three on five more occasions but could never get any closer.

The Tigers recorded their best offensive performance of the night to tie things up in the fourth set, posting a swing rate of .350 (18-4-40). The teams traded points until the midway point when FHSU tallied four points in a row, turning a 13-13 tie into a 17-13 lead. That advantage was all the Tigers would need to hold on and force a decisive fifth set.

Missouri Western came out firing in the fifth set, doubling up the Tigers midway through the frame, 10-5. Two Tiger kills and two attack errors helped FHSU close within one, 10-9. The Griffons regained control to soon reach match point at 14-12, but the Tigers fought off both match point opportunities to stay alive. The teams traded the next two points before MWSU closed the match with back to back points, winning the fifth set 17-15.

Delaney Humm led the Tigers with 17 kills and added a season-high 21 digs while Tatum Bartels recorded 14 kills to just four errors on 31 swings. Mykah Eshbaugh added a season-high nine kills on just 21 swings. Katie Darnell led the team with 25 assists and Abbie Hayes paced the Tigers with 24 digs.

The Tigers will return to Hays to wrap up the regular season one week from Friday on Nov. 15. FHSU will host Pittsburg State at noon before taking on Missouri Southern at noon on Saturday (Nov. 16).