FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State junior sprinter Samantha finished 14th in the prelims of the 100 meter dash at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday (May 22) in Allendale, Mich. She tied her school record mark of 11.71 seconds.

Woodburn will not advance to the finals on Saturday, but she gets another shot at making a final on Friday when she competes in the prelims of the 200 meter dash. She was just .09 seconds from making the final in the 100 meters.

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State women’s golf coach Rich Guffey announced three signings for the 2014-15 season. Signing with the Tigers are Abi Schmidtberger from Lawrence, Kan., Sage Alquist from Clay Center, Kan., and Hadley Tharp from Shawnee, Kan.

Schmidtberger is a three-time state qualifier from Lawrence High School. Her best performance at state was a 19th-place finish in Class 6A as a senior in the fall of 2013. She qualified for state as an individual her final two years.

Alquist is a one-time state qualifier from Clay Center Community High School. She qualified as an individual for the 4A state tournament as a junior in the fall of 2012. She also plays softball for Clay Center.

Tharp was a three-time state qualifier at Mill Valley High School. Her best finish at state was 34th-place in 2012 as a senior in Class 5A. She was a graduate of high school in 2013.

All three join the team in the fall of 2014-15.

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State Men’s Soccer Head Coach Brett Parker announced 11 signees for the 2014 season.  The signing class includes five high school signees, three international signees, including two international transfers, and three junior college transfers.  Last season, FHSU earned a berth Super Regional Semifinals in the NCAA Tournament, graduating seven seniors.

“As with most programs across the country, we are very excited with the new student-athletes we have coming in this fall,” head coach Brett Parker said.  “With a strong group returning from our 2013 squad, our focus with this class was bringing in players that can impact our program right away as well as adding players that will help fill the void of our seven seniors in 2014.”

Profiles of the 11 signees with comments from Parker are below:

Mauricio Castorino– Graduated from the American School of Asuncion (High School) and will transfer to FHSU from the Universidad Americana in Asuncion, Paraguay.

Coach Parker’s Comments:  “Mauri Castorino is a very versatile player that will help us this fall in a number of attacking positions.  His work rate and movement off the ball are tremendous.”

Maurizio Costa – Will transfer to Fort Hays State from the Universidad American in Asuncion, Paraguay.  Costa was one of two players selected from Paraguay to the finals of the Nike “The Chance” competition and finished 52 out of 100 worldwide competitors at the finals held in Barcelona, Spain.

Coach Parker’s Comments:  “Maurizio Costa is a very quick and exciting attacking player that will bring a different element to our attack this fall.”

Daniel Davila – Originally signed with FHSU out of high school and redshirted in his first year.  Davila competed at Northeast Texas Community College in 2013 for former Fort Hays State Assistant Coach Donovan Dowling.  Helped NTCC to its most successful season in program history with a 14-7 record and a berth in the Region 14 semi-finals starting all 20 games played.  Was a four-year starter for the Andromeda FC USSDA program in high school and enters FHSU as a sophomore for the 2014 season.

Coach Parker’s Comments:  “Daniel Davila originally signed for us in 2011 and after a redshirt year here decided to go back to Texas for a few years.  He had an outstanding season at NTCC last year and we look forward to having him back at FHSU this fall to help solidify our back line.”

Alex Granados – Four-year letter winner and starter at Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., for Coach Espen Hosien.  Granados was a First Team All-State selection as a senior, and helped lead AAHS to 2010 4A state championship and 2013 runner-up finish.  Captained the Pride Predators club team for eight years under Coach Brian Contreras, leading them to the 2013 U-17 Colorado State Championship

Coach Parker’s Comments:  “Alex Granados is a player that we’ve gotten to know very well over the past few years through our camps.  He is a very consistent and technical central midfielder that fits in very well with our style of play.  I am really looking forward to seeing his development over the course of his career at FHSU.”

Daniel Kelly – Four-year starter at Kapaun Mt. Carmel HS in Wichita, Kan.  Named First Team All-State as a Senior and led KMC to 4 consecutive 3^rd place finishes in the Kansas 5A State Tournament.  Played club ball for the Kansas Rush Wichita ’96, coached by Sammy Lane.

Coach Parker’s Comments:  “Daniel Kelly is another player that I’ve known for several years having coached him with the Kansas ODP team. He is a very attack-minded outside back that will give us a major threat going forward as well as being a very solid defender.  I believe he is one of the top players to come out of Kansas this year and we are thrilled to have him at FHSU for the next four years.”

Dinafor Kori – Transfer from Barton County Community College, where he played two seasons for Oliver Twelvetrees and Kevin Kewley.  Kori started all 16 games last fall as a defender and midfielder, scoring one goal and adding three assists.  Kori is a graduate of Putnam City North HS in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Coach Parker’s Comments:  “Dinafor Kori is a player we’ve tracked since high school where he was teammates with several of our current and former players. He brings a level of athleticism and size to our midfield and backline that we have lacked in recent years.  I am very excited that he has chosen FHSU to finish his career.”

Brian Ness – Three-year letter winner and two-year captain at Olathe Northwest High School for Coach Chris Graham.  In 2013, his senior year, Ness was named First Team All-Sunflower and 6A First Team All-State. Played for the Kansas Rush club team for Coach Daouda Kante, helping them to the 2012 Kansas State Cup championship, and was named Most Valuable Player in 2013.

Coach Parker’s Comments:  “Brian Ness attended our residential camp last summer and blew us away with his performance.  In my opinion, he is the most dynamic attacking player that we evaluated in the state this year.  His 1-on-1 attacking ability is outstanding and we expect him to make an immediate impact in our attack this fall.”

Paul Luna – Three-year letter winner at Hebron HS in Carrollton, TX for Coach Monte Pace, was named Offensive Player of the Year and was an All-District selection as a junior (2012).  Played club ball for the FC Dallas 96 Boys under Coach Chris Che.

Coach Parker’s Comments:  “Paul Luna is a very technical and smooth central midfielder that has a bright future in our program.  He is very calm on the ball and always a threat going forward.  He will fit in very well in our system and we expect him to grow into a very good player in our program for years to come.”

Daniel Molina – Transfer from Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz., where he played his sophomore season for Coach Tim Bartmetler. Molina was named All-ACCAC Honorable Mention in 2013.  Played one season at Iowa Western Community College in 2012, and as a youth player, was coached by Martin Vasquez with the Real Salt Lake Academy.

Coach Parker’s Comments:  “Daniel Molina is a very versatile and passionate player that we are thrilled to have finish his career at FHSU.  He is equally effective as both a defender and in the midfield.  He had tremendous success as a junior college player and has a fantastic club background with the Real Salt Lake youth academy.  We expect Danny to make a big impact in our program.”  

Tobias Patino – Native of Asuncion, Paraguay and is graduating from the Colegio Nacional High School.  Played club soccer for Club Nacional youth academy.

Coach Parker’s Comments:  “Tobias Patino is without a doubt the most complete midfielder that we have ever recruited at FHSU.  In our recruiting process, we have not evaluated a player who impacts the game as much as Tobias.  His movement and ability on the ball is at a level that is not often seen in the United States.  We are very confident that Tobias will step in immediately and make a huge impact on a veteran team this fall.”

Luan Silva – Graduate of Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo.  Silva started at MVHS as a freshman before opting to play only club soccer his final three years under Coach Lorne Donaldson with the Real Colorado US Soccer Development Academy. Silva has been a regular starter for the Real Colorado Academy for the past three years as a left back and left midfielder.

Coach Parker’s Comments:  “Luan Silva comes from a very good club background with the Real Colorado USSDA team and should transition to the level of the college game very quickly.  He is a very quick and dynamic left sided player that can play as a left back or as a left wing.  We are very excited to have Luan at FHSU and expect him to make an immediate impact.”

A complete breakdown of the 2014 men’s soccer signing class is below…

The Fort Hays State men’s basketball team has added a Division I transfer to their team. Royce Williams, a 6-5 guard from Los Angeles, is transferring from Weber State according to the Tigers twitter account and the web site verbalcommits.com.

Willams, who played one year at New Mexico Military Institute, played in 25 games for the Wildcats this past season averaging 2.5 points and 0.9 rebound per game but did shoot 40-percent from 3-point range. He played in 33 games as a sophomore at WSU and connected on 50-percent from beyond the arc.

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State senior Clayton Garland was named to the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-Central Region First Team for the 2014 season. This is the first all-region selection for the two-time All-MIAA selection.

Garland was one of three MIAA outfielders named to the first team, including Ryan Degner of Missouri Western and Cody Robinson of Northeastern State. Garland earned All-MIAA Second Team honors earlier this year.

Garland led the Tigers with a .406 batting average, the first Tiger to hit .400 in a season since Cody Staten hit .419 in 2006. He also led the Tigers in runs scored (42), hits (67), triples (3), total bases (98), slugging percentage (.594), on-base percentage (.466), and stolen bases (6). He finished his career tied with the fifth-highest career batting average at FHSU, a mark of .397 over two seasons.

Below is the entire Rawlings/ABCA All-Central Region Team for 2014.

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State women’s basketball head coach Tony Hobson announced the signing of Elle Stein, transfer from Pratt (Kan.) Community College for the upcoming 2014-15 season. Stein, a native of Spearville, Kan., will be a junior.

Stein was an All-KJCCC West Division Honorable Mention selection in 2013-14 as a sophomore, averaging 11.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game helping Pratt to a record of 20-11 overall. The 6-foot post player started all 31 games and shot 53.2 percent from the field. As a freshman in 2012-13, she averaged 7.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

Prior to her two years at Pratt Community College, Stein was a KBCA Class 1A All-State First Team selection at Spearville High School as a senior.

Stein brings the 2014-15 signing class to four as she joins three that signed earlier in the year, which includes Morgan Hood, Kristin Huser, and Taylor Menke.

Hood earned KBCA Class 1A All-State First Team honors as a senior, while she averaged 18.0 points (led Class 1A-Division II), 10.9 rebounds, and 2.8 steals per game. Huser earned KBCA Class 1A All-State Third Team honors as a senior, while she averaged 15.9 points and 3.6 assists (led Class 1A-Division I), and 3.4 steals per game. Menke earned All-State First Team honors for Class D1 in Nebraska and was named the honorary captain of the first team. She averaged 17.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.

2014-15 FHSU Women’s Basketball Signings (As of May 16, 2014)

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State’s Cooper Langley earned his second all-region honor as a designated hitter on Thursday, named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-Central Region Second Team.

Langley adds the honor to his All-MIAA Honorable Mention selection and Daktronics All-Central Regional Second Team selection at designated hitter.

Langley started 44 games for the Tigers in 2014 with 75 percent of the starts coming at designated hitter, the rest at first base. He batted .335 and led the team in extra-base hits with 24, pounding out 19 doubles and five home runs.

Below is a link to the entire 2014 NCBWA All-Central Region Team…

NCBWA All-Central Region Team

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State junior Cooper Langley was named to the Daktronics All-Central Region Team for the 2014 season, released on Thursday. Langley earned second team honors as a designated hitter.

Langley adds the honor to his All-MIAA Honorable Mention selection at designated hitter. It’s the second straight year the Tigers have had a designated hitter selected to the team after Horace Johnson earned first-team honors last year.

Langley started 44 games for the Tigers in 2014 with 75 percent of the starts coming at designated hitter, the rest at first base. He batted .335 and led the team in extra-base hits with 24, pounding out 19 doubles and five home runs.

Below is a link to the entire 2014 Daktronics All-Central Region Team

Daktronics All-Central Region Team

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State will be represented by three athletes at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Allendale, Mich., May 22-24. Earning the right to compete at nationals are Brady Tien, Madison Wolf and Samantha Woodburn.

Tien, a junior, enters nationals with the seventh-best effort in the pole vault this year at 16′ 8.75″. That is also a personal best for him, just 1.25″ short of the school record at FHSU. He earned All-America honors during the indoor season with a sixth-place finish and a height of 16′ 4.75″. He will compete on Saturday (May 24) at 2:30 pm ET/1:30 pm CT.

Wolf, a freshman, enters nationals with the ninth-best effort in the javelin this year at 155′ 1″. She was the MIAA Champion in the event and was an automatic qualifier in the event with her mark. She is set to compete at 2 pm ET/1 pm CT on Saturday (May 24).

Woodburn, a junior, will compete in both the 100 and 200 meters. She had the 12th-best time nationally in the 200 meters at 23.95 seconds, and the 14th-best time in the 100 meters at 11.71 seconds. She was third at the MIAA Championships in both events. Prelims for the 100 meters are Thursday (May 22) at 6:25 pm ET/5:25 pm CT and the prelims for the 200 meters are Friday (May 23) at 5:45 pm ET/4:45 pm CT. Finals for both events are Saturday evening.

FHSU Sports Information

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State men’s track and field athletes Brady Tien and Cory Keehn earned All-Central Region honors from the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association for the 2014 outdoor season. To earn all-region honors, the individual must be among the top five performers in their respective events within the region.

Tien earned the distinction in the pole vault. He also earned All-MIAA honors earlier this month with a third-place finish at the MIAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He is currently tied for the seventh-best vault in the nation at 16′ 8.75″, which he reached this past week at the KSU Wildcat Open and set a new personal best in the process. He has been creeping closer to the school record, which is 16′ 10″.

Keehn earned his honor in the 10,000 meters. He currently ranks 30th on the national performance list in the event with a time of 30:22.94 that he ran at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival.

FHSU Sports Information-

Fort Hays State’s Paxton Duran was named to the 2014 Daktronics All-Central Region Second Team, announced Monday by the organization.

Duran, a sophomore pitcher from Brighton, Colo., led the Tiger pitching staff this season with a 17-9 record while helping FHSU earn the fourth seed in the MIAA Championships.  Duran appeared in 31 games, starting 24 and throwing a team-best 153.1 innings.

Her 148 strikeouts led the team as well, averaging 0.98 per inning, and she walked just 40 batters (3.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio).  Duran had at least five strikeouts in 17 games, and at least four in 20 games.

Duran threw her first career hitter on March 21, striking out seven in the Tigers’ 1-0 victory.  Against Central Missouri in the MIAA Tournament, Duran struck out a career-high 13 batters in the first round win.

At the plate, Duran hit .263 with six doubles and 11 RBI, posting an on-base percentage of .306.

The D2SIDA All-America softball team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition. The teams are voted on by the members of D2SIDA, NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors Association.

The complete 2014 All-Central Region selections are below…

Fort Hays State’s senior outfielder Clayton Garland has been named to the Second Team of the All-MIAA baseball team announced Thursday. It’s the second consecutive season Garland has been honored by the conference after being named Honorable Mention in 2013.

Garland led the Tigers and was third in the conference with a .406 batting average. The Cheyenne, Wyo. native, who played two season at Barton [Kan.] CC before transferring to FHSU, also led the Tigers with 67 hits, 42 runs scored, three triples and six stolen bases.

Senior first baseman Horace Johnson who was named to the Third Team. Johnson, who was a First Team pick at designated hitter in 2013, was second on the team with 13 doubles, seven home runs and 42 runs batted in.

Cooper Langley and Kevin Czarnecki were both Honorable Mention picks. Langley as a designated hitter and Czarnecki as a utility player. Czarnecki led the Tigers with eight home runs and 43 runs batted and was second with a .350 batting average.

Complete All-MIAA team below…

Player of the Year: Phillip Wilson, SS/RP, Sr., Central Oklahoma
Pitcher of the Year: Ricky Reeves, Jr., Central Oklahoma
Freshman of the Year: Ryan Helsley, P, Northeastern State
Coach of the Year: Chris Martin, Southwest Baptist

First Team All-MIAA

Pitcher: Ricky Reeves, Jr., Central Oklahoma
Pitcher: Shawn Talkington, Jr, Emporia State
Pitcher: Kyle Gehrs, Sr., Central Missouri
Relief Pitcher: Brenton Higgins, Sr., Emporia State
Catcher: David Gauntt, So., Washburn
First Base: Jake O’ Brien, Jr., Central Oklahoma
Second Base: Levi Parker, Jr., Emporia State
Shortstop: Phillip Wilson, Sr., Central Oklahoma
Third Base: Spencer Blacksher, Jr., Southwest Baptist
Outfield: Cody Robinson, Sr., Northeastern State
Outfield: Anthony Pacheco, So., Nebraska-Kearney
Outfield: Brad Wilson, Sr., Central Missouri
Designated Hitter: Josh Ingram, Jr., Central Oklahoma
Utility: Danny Droll, Jr., Nebraska-Kearney

Second Team All-MIAA

Pitcher: Brett Ash, Sr., Washburn^
Pitcher: Jared Sterling, Jr., Central Oklahoma^
Pitcher: David Reese, Sr., Missouri Southern^
Pitcher: Ryan Hesley, Fr., Northeastern State^
Relief Pitcher: Zach Davis, Sr., Central Missouri
Catcher: Max Ayoub, Jr., Nebraska-Kearney
First Base: Mike Failoni, Sr., Lindenwood
Second Base: Cesar Wong, Sr., Central Oklahoma
Shortstop: Ross Wolfe, Jr., Southwest Baptist
Third Base: Dean Long, Jr., Emporia State
Outfield: Clayton Garland, Sr., Fort Hays State
Outfield: Justin Harris, Jr., Emporia State
Outfield: Ryan Degner, Jr., Missouri Western
Designated Hitter: Chance Wolfe, Fr., Southwest Baptist
Utility: Jake Alexander, So., Central Missouri
^= Four pitchers due to tie in the voting

Third Team All-MIAA

Pitcher: Ricky Rivera, Jr., Central Missouri#
Pitcher: Logan Willard, Sr., Nebraska-Kearney#
Pitcher: Jarrod Miller, Jr., Emporia State#
Pitcher: Ryker Fox, Sr., Northwest Missouri#
Relief Pitcher: Phillip Wilson, Sr., Central Oklahoma
Catcher: Jake Schrader, Sr., Missouri Western
First Base: Horace Johnson, Sr., Fort Hays State*
First Base: Jake Vore, Jr., Southwest Baptist*
Second Base: Landon Young, Sr., Southwest Baptist
Shortstop: Toby Cornejo, Sr., Emporia State
Third Base: Matt Johnson, Sr., Central Oklahoma
Outfield: Brandon Landanger, Jr., Nebraska-Kearney%
Outfield: Logan Moon, Sr., Missouri Southern%
Outfield: Christian Binger, So., Southwest Baptist%
Outfield: Trevor Jones, Sr., Central Missouri%
Designated Hitter: Barrett Noirfalise, Sr., Central Missouri
Utility: David Weber, Sr., Northeastern State
#= Four pitchers due to tie in the voting
*= Two first basemen due to tie in the voting
%= Four outfielders due to tie in the voting

Honorable Mention 

Pitcher: Kurtis Schuyler, Central Missouri; Dakota McKaskle, Emporia State; Payton Walker, Missouri Southern; Jake Jones, Missouri Western; Tyler Thompson, Pittsburg State; Cory Borsh, Southwest Baptist; Taylor Gentry, Washburn
Relief Pitcher: Stephen Vaughn, Missouri Southern; Mason Queen, Missouri Western; Joe Smidt, Nebraska-Kearney; Ryan McKay, Pittsburg State; Sam Vergara, Southwest Baptist
Catcher: Seth Wheeler, Central Missouri; Brad Lamberti, Central Oklahoma.
First Base: Ryan Staggs, Northeastern State; Matt Jackson, Washburn
Second Base: Dylon Koch, Missouri Western; Corey Gragg, Washburn
Shortstop: Brad Jelinek, Central Missouri; Cody Childs, Missouri Western; Andrew Walker, Northeastern State
Third Base: Tony Sandifer, Central Missouri; Brad Foss, Pittsburg State; Kyle Carnahan, Washburn
Outfield: Kevin Gratza, Central Missouri; Tyler Crabtree, Central Oklahoma; Dillon Argo, Central Oklahoma; Price Jacobs, Emporia State; Marshall Vallandingham, Lindenwood; David Chew, Missouri Western; Jon Pomatto, Northwest Missouri; Cody Ball, Pittsburg State; Bo Helsel, Southwest Baptist; Wes Jones, Washburn; Parker Gibson, Washburn
Designated Hitter: Cooper Langley, Fort Hays State; Taylor Herrington, Washburn
Utility: Kevin Czarnecki, Fort Hays State; Ben Stewart, Lincoln; Ben Courdret, Lindenwood; Jerry Roam, Lindenwood.