Fort Hays State Weekly Football Press Conference
September 1, 2015
FHSU head coach Chris Brown
Senior OL Matt Erbert
Senior QB Treveon Albert
Senior DB Daniel Lindsey
Junior CB Raheeme Dumas
Category: Fort Hays State
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Lindenwood to host 2016 MIAA baseball tournament
MIAA Media Relations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MIAA formally announced today that Lindenwood University will serve as the host for the 2016 MIAA Baseball Tournament.
The Tournament will be played at the Lou Brock Sports Complex in St. Charles, Mo. The complex has hosted NCAA Regional Tournament games as well as hosting the 2009 NAIA National Championship opening round.
“Our coaches have requested that our post-season tournament return to campus sites and that the tournament be played in the format adopted,” said MIAA Commissioner Dr. Bob Boerigter. “We are pleased that Lindenwood University has agreed to host the 2016 event. Their quality facilities should provide a significant venue for the MIAA to conduct this competitive and exciting championship.”
“We are excited about hosting the 2016 MIAA Baseball Tournament. We feel like we have a great venue in the Lou Brock Complex,” said Lindenwood Athletic Director John Creer. “I think this will be a big boost for our baseball program and the St. Charles community. It will definitely fill up some hotel beds and provide restaurants with some business. It will also be an opportunity for Lindenwood University to show off our beautiful campus and the historic downtown St. Charles. This will also be motivation for our team to make sure we are playing well this coming season and get to the conference tournament, and give our students, parents, and fans an opportunity to watch them play in the tournament.”
The MIAA baseball tournament is scheduled for May 12-15 with a four-day eight-team double elimination tournament.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Game 1: #3 seed vs. #6 seed 9 a.m.
Game 2: #2 seed vs. #7 seed 12:30 p.m.
Game 3: #1 seed vs. #8 seed 4 p.m.
Game 4: #4 seed vs. #5 seed 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 13, 2016
Game 5: Loser game 1 vs. Loser game 2 9 a.m.
Game 6: Loser game 3 vs. Loser game 4 12:30 p.m.
Game 7: Winner game 1 vs. Winner game 2 4 p.m.
Game 8: Winner game 3 vs. Winner game 4 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Game 9: Loser game 7 vs. Winner game 5 9 a.m.
Game 10: Winner game 8 vs. Winner game 9 12:30 p.m.
Game 11: Loser game 8 vs. Winner game 6 4 p.m.
Game 12: Winner game 7 vs. Winner game 10 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Game 13: Winner game 11 vs. Loser game 11 9 a.m. (If neccessary)
Game 14: Winner game 12 vs. Loser game 12 12:30 p.m. (If neccessary)
Game 15: MIAA Championship 4 p.m.
FHSU men’s and women’s cross country picked 4th by MIAA coaches
FHSU Athletics
The Fort Hays State men’s cross country team was picked fourth in the 2015 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, released on Thursday. Coaches across the conference agree that the Tigers should improve on their seventh-place finish at the MIAA Championships in 2014. Even one coach in the conference voted FHSU as the favorite.
Fort Hays State returns their top two runners, Cory Keehn and Jonny Berntansky, who redshirted in 2014. With both fully healthy and a solid group of returners from last year, the Tigers are primed to make plenty of noise at the MIAA Championships this year. Keehn and Bernasky were both All-MIAA performers in 2013 and Keehn was the MIAA Champion individually in 2012.
Add in 2014 All-MIAA performer Isaac Williams and Colby (Kan.) Community College transfer Micheal Kinuthia, the Tigers will have several strong runners up front. Kinuthia transferred to FHSU from Colby Community College for the Spring 2015 semester, but he ran cross country at Colby last year and won the Region 6 and KJCCC individual championship. He then earned All-American honors by finishing eighth overall at the NJCAA Championships. Kinuthia was an All-MIAA performer in track and field for the Tigers this past spring.
Troy Wineiger had a breakout season for the Tigers last year, nearly grabbing All-MIAA honors by finishing 23rd at the conference championship in 2014. Ryan Hopkins, Seth Parres and Brock Elgin also had great seasons, contributing to the team scoring on a regular basis.
If this year’s team stays healthy, head coach Jason McCullough feels they can compete for a conference championship. The Tiger men won the MIAA Championship in 2012.
The Tigers host the FHSU Alumni Run at the Sand Plum Nature Trail, just outside the west edge of Victoria, Kan., on Saturday, August 29 at 9:30 am. Bethany College will be coming to compete with the Tigers in the exhibition event.
2015 MIAA Preseason Men’s Coaches Poll
1. Nebraska-Kearney (6) 58
2. Pittsburg State 52
3. Missouri Southern (1) 47
4. Fort Hays State (1) 45
5. Northwest Missouri 37
6. Central Missouri 36
7. Southwest Baptist 28
8. Lindenwood 12
9. Emporia State 11
FHSU women tabbed 4th
The Fort Hays State women’s cross country team was picked fourth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, released on Thursday.
The Tigers finished fourth at the MIAA Championships last season under head coach Jason McCullough, who believes a top-three finish is attainable this year.
Two returning runners, Chelsea Jackson and Micki Krzesinski, received All-MIAA honors last season and are looking for solid performances again in 2015. Amanda Morgan came on strong at the end of the season and nearly grabbed all-conference status as well. Shea Bonine and Jordan Schulte also return to the team this year. McCullough expects several newcomers to compete and possibly have an immediate impact on the team scoring.
The Tigers host the FHSU Alumni Run at the Sand Plum Nature Trail, just outside the west edge of Victoria, Kan., on Saturday, August 29 at 9:30 am. Bethany College will be coming to compete with the Tigers in the exhibition event.
2015 MIAA Preseason Women’s Coaches Poll
T1. Missouri Southern (6) 94
T1. Southwest Baptist (5) 94
3. Pittsburg State 79
4. Fort Hays State 73
5. Northwest Missouri 60
6. Nebraska-Kearney 54
7. Central Oklahoma 48
8. Central Missouri 44
9. Lincoln 22
10. Emporia State 21
11. Lindenwood 16
FHSU football holds final scrimmage prior to season opener
The Fort Hays State football team held their final intrasquad scrimmage prior to their season opener Wednesday afternoon at Lewis Field.
The Tigers used the scrimmage to work on their game day routine including pregame warmups and a halftime break.
“We tried to make it as live as possible” fifth-year head coach Chris Brown said. “It didn’t go great today but I’m glad we did it today so we get our kids on the same page of how game day is”. “Hopefully they see today that they’ve got to get a lot better”.
Coach Chris Brown discusses Wednesday’s scrimmage
Quarterback Treveon Albert connected with redshirt freshman Codaryl Pandolfo on a 35-yard touchdown pass on the first play after a short halftime break to highlight the offense.
Backup quarterback Jacob Mezera guided the No. 2 offense on a 15-play scoring drive then culminated with a 20-yard Drew O’Brien field goal.
Senior linebacker Justin McPhail intercepted a Treveon Albert pass in the two-minute drill to highlight the defense.
The Tigers open the season on the road Sept. 3 at Central Oklahoma.
FHSU golf picked in lower half of coaches’ preseason poll
MIAA Media Relations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In the second ever men’s and women’s golf poll to be released by the MIAA the Central Missouri men and the Central Oklahoma women have been picked to win the league championship. Both teams are coming off season’s where they were able to win the conference tournament.
In the men’s poll UCM recieved eight first place votes coming in just five points ahead of Central Oklahoma who claimed the other three first place votes. Northeastern State was picked third overall for the men with Washburn picked to finish in the fourth slot. Just seven points behind the Ichabods was Lindenwood who is picked fifth with Missouri Western picked two points behind in the sixth spot.
Missouri Southern sits just six points behind the Griffons as they are slated to finish seventh this year. Nebraska-Kearney was picked in the eight slot with Lincoln picked to finish ninth overall. Fort Hays State was picked 10th just one point ahead of 11th place pick Southwest Baptist.
On the women’s side UCO claimed seven of the ten first place votes coming in three points ahead of Northeastern State who claimed the final three first place votes. Ten points behind the the RiverHawks is LIndenwood who is picked to finish third with Nebraska-Kearney being slated in the fourth spot. One point behind the Lopers is Missouri Western who is picked by the cooaches to finish fifth this season.
Central Missouri earns the nod at the sixth space while Northeastern Missouri has ben picked seventh by the coaches. Fort Hays State is picked to finish eight with Southwest Baptist ninth and Lincoln picked to finish 10th overall.
The fall season is set to get underway shortly with the teams pushing towards the MIAA Championships to be held on April 18-20 in Lawrence, Kan.
2015 MIAA Preseason Men’s Coaches Poll
1. Central Missouri (8) 98
2. Central Oklahoma (3) 93
3. Northeastern State 75
4. Washburn 67
5. Lindenwood 60
6. Missouri Western 58
7. Missouri Southern 52
8. Nebraska-Kearney 42
9. Lincoln 23
10. Fort Hays State 19
11. Southwest Baptist 18
2015 MIAA Preseason Women’s Coaches Poll
1. Central Oklahoma (7) 78
2. Northeastern State (3) 75
3. Lindenwood 65
4. Nebraska-Kearney 52
5. Missouri Western 51
6. Central Missouri 43
7. Northwest Missouri 35
8. Fort Hays State 24
9. Southwest Baptist 17
10. Lincoln 10
FHSU adds three transfers and two freshmen for 2015
FHSU Sports Information
Fort Hays State men’s basketball coach Mark Johnson announced the addition of five newcomers to the four that signed early with the program, bringing the total list of newcomers for the 2015-16 season to nine. The Tigers add on three transfers; Kenny Enoch, Rob Davis, and Lake Reed and two freshmen; Stefan Krsmanovic and Emir Sabic to field a squad of 16 for the upcoming season.
The transfers are solid shooters from the perimeter. All three shot over 40 percent beyond the 3-point line in 2014-15 at their respective junior colleges.
Enoch, a native of Indianapolis, Ind., led Barton (Kan.) Community College in 3-point field goals made (78) and 3-point field goal percentage (.443) as a sophomore, averaging 14.1 points per game. He was also rock solid at the free-throw line, where he shot 82.9 percent, and contributed 3.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.
A native of Detroit, Mich., Davis led Pratt (Kan.) Community College in 3-point field goals made (89) and 3-point field goal percentage (.486) as a sophomore in 2014-15. He shot at an 80.5 percent clip at the free-throw line, while adding 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He had a tremendous freshman season as well, burying 75 3-point field goals and shooting at an 88.1 percent clip at the free-throw line.
Reed joins the Tigers from Northeastern (Colo.) Junior College. A native of Fort Collins, Colo., Reed shot 48.7 percent from the field and 45.2 percent beyond the 3-point line as a sophomore in 2014-15. He averaged 6.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 steals per game, while also shooting 75 percent at the free-throw line.
Krsmanovic and Sabic have traveled overseas to play for the Tigers. Krsmanovic is a 6-foot, 7-inch post player from Gornji Milanovac, Serbia, who has the ability to knock down the long range jumper. Sabic, a native of Zagreb, Croatia, stands at 6-foot, 2-inches and has the ability to play both point guard and shooting guard. He was a member of the team that won the 2014 Croatian Junior Championship and a member of the U16 and U19 Croatian National Teams.
The five newcomers join freshmen Trey O’Neil, Kyler Kinnamon, Brady Werth, and Aaron Nicholson, who signed early with the Tigers.
Albert, Thomas connect twice at FHSU’s second scrimmage
After a slow start, the offense was able to put together two scoring drives, both ending with touchdown passes from Treveon Albert to redshirt freshman running back Malik Thomas, highlighting the Fort Hays State football team’s second scrimmage Thursday afternoon at Lewis Field. The offense scored a touchdown and kicked a field goal in their two red zone drills and scored in all four of their goal line possessions.
FHSU head coach Chris Brown on Thursday’s scrimmage
The defense shined early, forcing a couple of turnovers and had several key pass break ups in the endzone.
Treveon Albert threw two touchdown passes and had a third of 93 yards to Evan Jennings called back because of a penalty.
Thomas continued his impressive camp with several nice runs. Fellow running back Shaquille Cooper had a couple of long runs including one of 20 yards.
The Tigers have one more scrimmage scheduled for next Wednesday before opening the season at Central Oklahoma on Sept. 3.
FHSU women’s soccer picked fourth in MIAA preseason coaches poll
FHSU Athletics
The Fort Hays State women’s soccer team enters the 2015 season picked fourth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, released on Thursday (Aug. 20).
The Tigers finished the 2014 season with an impressive 13-5-2 overall record and an even better 8-2-2 record in the MIAA. The eight wins in conference play was the most by the program in their four-year history and earned the Tigers a No. 3 seed in the MIAA tournament.
“Something we always try to do here is try to get better,” which is what head coach Craig Shaw stated when asked about last year’s success. Shaw has a record of 40-31-7 entering his fifth year as the Tigers head coach.
Improvement on last year’s success looks to be in reach for the 2015 squad as 19 players return from 2014. The Tigers averaged 1.65 goals per match last season and should be confident as three of their top four goal scorers are among the returners. FHSU also had one of the top defenses in the MIAA (2nd) and nation (25th), producing 11 shutouts and just 0.62 goals per match.
In their brief history, FHSU has produced 20 All-MIAA players, including eight in 2014, and four All-Central Region recipients (three in last year).
The Tigers hit the pitch on September 4th to open the regular season at FHSU Soccer Stadium in Hays, Kan., against Southwest Minnesota State and then host Minot State two days later.
2015 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Central Missouri (11) 121
2. Southwest Baptist (1) 104
3. Central Oklahoma 103
4. Fort Hays State 95
5. Lindenwood 71
6. Missouri western 70
7. Northeastern State 63
8. Emporia State 56
9. Northwest Missouri 36
10. Nebraska-Kearney 30
11. Missouri Southern 28
12. Washburn 15
Youth leads the way for FHSU volleyball
Redshirt junior Crystal Whitten and true freshman Azlyn Cassaday both had 11 kills to lead the Fort Hays State volleyball team in their annual Black and Gold Scrimmage Wednesday night at Gross Coliseum. Mallory Flagor, the team’s lone senior added 10 kills in the three set match won by the FHSU Black team (25-15, 31-29, 18-25).
Abby Groth and Hannah Wagy both had 19 assists. Wagy led the way with 16 digs.
Neither team hit particularly well with the Gold finishing with a .090 average and the Black .148. Seventh year head coach Kurt Kohler chalks that up to their youth as well as familiarity. “I think it is our defense knowing what our hitters are going to do” Kohler said. “Our passing wasn’t real good today so our offense wasn’t able to come along”.
7th year coach Kurt Kohler discusses Wednesday’s Black and Gold Scrimmage
Kohler has just one senior and seven true freshman on his roster and knows there will be some growing pains.
“Most of these kids are now playing like freshman, which is nice” Kohler said. “A lot of these girls look like they’ve played at a high level already so that’s going to be fun to get them on the court and really challenge our upper classman”.
The Tigers, who are picked eighth in the MIAA coaches’ preseason poll, are looking to improve on last season which saw them finish three spots higher than in 2013.
FHSU will host Bethel College at Gross Memorial Coliseum in an exhibition doubleheader starting at 4 pm on Wednesday, August 26. They then open the 2015 regular season in Marquette, Mich., at the Northern Michigan Tournament, Sept. 4-5.
Albert hoping to continue FHSU’s football rise in 2015
As the Fort Hays State football team moves well into their second full week of practice prior to their season opener September 3rd at Central Oklahoma, competition remains high at several key positions for starting spots.
One position that appears to be settled is quarterback where fifth-year senior Treveon Albert returns. Albert has been a part of coach Chris Brown’s turnaround since day one and is excited for his final season.
“We’ve taken a lot of steps to get to where we are right now” Albert said. “It feels good being in his (coach Brown) first class and this is also my last year, trying to go out with a bang with coach Brown”.
Senior QB Treveon Albert discusses the upcoming 2015 season
Albert completed 54-percent of his passes for 1,569 yards with with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions while rushing for 434 yards with five touchdowns last season, helping the Tigers to a 7-4 record. Albert is now trying to help the Tigers find the postseason for the first time since 1995.
“You go as far as your leaders go” Albert said. “I think our senior leaders are the best since I’ve been at this school”.
Fort Hays State opens the 2015 season at Central Oklahoma September 3rd.
Three MIAA volleyball teams start season in top 25
MIAA Media Relations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Three MIAA volleyball teams will enter the season ranked in the top 25 as the AVCA released their preseason poll today.
Nebraska-Kearney is ranked fifth to begin the season on Sept. 4 with four games in Alaska. Central Missouri enters the year ranked 13th in the nation and will begin the year at home on Sept. 3 with five straight. Washburn is one spot behind them ranked 14th to begin the year and start with four straight at home in the season’s opening weekend.
Central Oklahoma also received votes in the poll as most MIAA teams prepare to open their season Sept. 4-6.
Two MIAA football teams in top-ten of AFCA preseason poll
MIAA Media Relations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MIAA will open the 2015 football season with two teams ranked in the American Football Coaches Association preseason top 10 released today. The MIAA joins the Northern Sun and Great Lakes Intercollegiate as league’s who begin the year with two teams in the top ten.
Northwest Missouri is ranked fifth in the poll with Pittsburg State picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll. NWMSU opens the season on Sept. 3 at Nebraska-Kearney while PSU will be on the road at Northeastern State the same day.
Also receiving votes in the poll were Central Missouri and Central Oklahoma who each represented the MIAA in bowl games last season.