Fort Hays State football seniors Alex Whitehill and Ethan Kosjer added to their long list of accomplishments for the 2011 season as they were honored as Don Hansen All-Super Region 4 First Team selections. Both Whitehill and Kosjer have been named Daktronics All-Super Region 4 First Team selections and Daktronics All-Americans this year.
Whitehill, native of McPherson, Kan., has been named an All-MIAA First Team, Daktronics All-Super Region 4 First Team, Daktronics All-American First Team, and CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American First Team selection so far this year. He adds this honor as his second all-region first team selection this year. He finished the season leading NCAA Division II in tackles with 164, just five short of the Division II single-season record. However, he did set a new school record for tackles in a season, breaking the old mark of 150 set by Junior Hartig in 1979. He also set a new NCAA Division II record for assisted tackles in a season with 106, breaking the old mark of 105 set by Brian Holliday of Fayetteville State in 2002. Whitehill recorded at least 10 tackles in nine of 11 games this year and never had less than seven in a game. He had at least 20 tackles in a game three times this year.
Kosjer also adds this honor as his second all-region first team selection this year. He has earned All-MIAA First Team, Daktronics All-Super Region 4 First Team, and Daktronics All-American Second Team honors so far this year. The Douglass, Kan., native led the MIAA in punting average for the second straight season, this year at 44.4 yards per boot. He also led all of Super Region 4 in punting average. Kosjer ended the season ranked third in NCAA Division II in punting average. He set new single-season and career records at FHSU for punting average. His 44.4 yards per kick this year eclipsed the old mark of 43.2 set by Adam Ryan in 2000 and his career average of 42.7 passed the mark of 41.4, also set by Ryan.
The Fort Hays State men’s basketball team moved up one spot to No. 8 in the latest set of NCAA Division II rankings, released on Tuesday. The Tigers benefitted from Missouri Southern’s loss this past weekend to Pittsburg State, which dropped the Lions from No. 6 to No. 14 in this week’s poll. All other teams in front of the Tigers avoided losses over the past week.
Fort Hays State’s victory at Truman was not figured into this week’s poll, as Monday games are not figured in on a weekly basis. The poll just considers games played up to the Sunday previous to the release of the poll.
Fort Hays State’s win at Truman and Wednesday’s game at Central Missouri, along with their home contest against Southwest Baptist this Saturday will be figured into the next poll to be released next Tuesday, January 10. The Top 15 match-up between FHSU and Missouri Southern on Monday, January 9 in Hays will be figured into the January 17 poll. It will be the second-straight year that the FHSU vs. Missouri Southern game in Hays will feature Top 15 ranked teams.
Fort Hays State has a very difficult road test on Wednesday at Central Missouri, which sits at 7-4 overall and 3-3 in the MIAA. The Mules are always very tough at home as the Tigers have only won once in Warrensburg since joining the MIAA in 2006-07. That win was in 2009-10, when Central Missouri was the No. 1 team in the nation and the Tigers were ranked No. 13.
The No. 8 ranking is the highest of the season so far for Fort Hays State. The Tigers and Missouri Southern are the only teams from the MIAA in the Top 25 once again this week, although Northwest Missouri State has moved back into the receiving votes section. The Bearcats’ only loss this year was to Fort Hays State in Hays on December 17. FHSU, Northwest Missouri State, and Washburn are currently tied for the MIAA lead as of Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 3).
This week’s national poll is listed below…
1.
Metropolitan State (Colo.)
12-0
197
(5 first place votes)
2.
Southern Indiana
10-0
189
(1 first place vote)
3.
Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.)
12-0
183
(1 first place vote)
4.
Kentucky Wesleyan
10-0
180
(1 first place vote)
5.
Bellarmine (Ky.)
9-1
170
6.
Cal Poly Pomona
8-0
158
7.
West Liberty (W.Va.)
10-1
153
8.
Fort Hays State (Kan.)
9-1
137
9.
Tarleton State (Texas)
10-1
135
10.
Winona State (Minn.)
10-1
127
11.
Northern Kentucky
10-0
120
12.
Colorado School of Mines
10-1
104
13.
Alabama-Huntsville
8-2
99
14.
Missouri Southern
11-2
91
15.
Bowie State (Md.)
8-1
84
16.
Midwestern State (Texas)
11-0
81
17.
Findlay (Ohio)
10-2
73
18.
Alaska-Anchorage
9-2
64
19.
Minnesota State-Moorhead
9-0
55
20.
Indiana (Pa.)
8-2
29
21.
Augustana (S.D.)
8-2
27
22.
Arkansas Tech
8-2
26
23.
Western Washington
12-2
20
24.
Benedict (S.C.)
3-1
17
25.
West Georgia
13-1
11
Others receiving votes: Georgia Southwestern 10, Southwestern Oklahoma State 9, Christian Brothers (Tenn.) 8, Clayton State (Ga.) 8, Bentley (Mass.) 8, Hillsdale (Mich.) 7, Montevallo (Ala.) 7, St. Cloud State (Minn.) 5, Northwest Missouri State 3, Humboldt State (Calif.) 2, Western Oregon 2, Franklin Pierce (N.H.) 1, West Texas A&M 1.
The Fort Hays State Tigers used an 11-3 run to build a nine point lead then had to hold on over the final two minutes for a 63-58 win at Truman State Monday.
A Moses Dayee 3-pointer helped the Tigers build a four-point lead at the half. They use a 10-2 run to go up 41-30 with 11:22 to play. Truman answered with a 12-2 to pull within one but could never get the lead.
Kendrick Morse and Tyrone Phillips both scored 14 to lead the Tigers who improve to 10-1 and 4-1 in the MIAA. Karron McKenzie added 12 before fouling out, Moses Dayee hit three 3’s to finish with 11 and Matt Simmons grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Tigers shot just 39-percent (22-56) and hit 5-of-18 from 3-point range and were just 14-22 from the free throw line. Truman shot a season-low 31-percent (19-61) and were only 2-of-11 from 3-point range.
Fort Hays State wraps up the two-game road swing Wednesday night at Central Missouri.
The Fort Hays State Lady Tigers open the new year with a big road win, knocking off Truman State 69-63 Monday afternoon in Kirksville.
The Tigers use a 14-1 second half run to take the lead for good. It come following a 10-0 Truman run which saw the Bulldogs go up four with 12:05 to play.
The Tigers led by two at halftime after Truman outscored Fort Hays State 8-1 to close the first half. FHSU lead by eight with 9:46 to play but Truman responded with an 8-0 run to tie. The Tigers pushed the lead to nine with 2:41 to go in the half before the Bulldogs made the run before the half.
Crista Bechard scores a season-high 20 points to lead FHSU. Kate Lehman added a career-high 15 points and nine rebounds. Kate Edwards added 13 points. Traci Keyser grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak to the Bulldogs and evened the all-time series at six wins each.
The Tigers return to action Wednesday at 5:30pm at Central Missouri.
The Fort Hays State go unbeaten in the non-conference for the second time in three years, defeating Doane College 81-53 in their first game back from the Christmas break Friday at Gross Coliseum.
Fort Hays State hit nine of their first 15 shots in building a 10-point first half lead, but connected on just five of thier final 20 to close the half. Doane closed within one with just under seven minutes to play, but the Lady Tigers respond with a 17-4 run to build a 14 point lead and led by 12 at the half.
The Tigers shoot just 37-percent for the game but hit 20-of-24 free throws including their final 17.
Kate Edwards led four Tigers in double-figures with a career-high 21. Traci Keyser hit just 2-of-9 from 3-point range but was 6-for-6 from the foul line and finished wth 16. Kaiameka Brown added a career-high 15 and Kelsie Sorenson a season-best 11.
The win improves the Lady Tigers to 11-1. They return to MIAA play Monday afternoon at Truman State.
Fort Hays State women’s basketball coach Tony Hobson and men’s coach Mark Johnson held their final weekly news conference of 2011 Thursday in the Cade Suran Tiger Room.
The 10-1 Lady Tigers return to action Friday night against Doane in their final non-conference game of the year. Tipoff is at 6pm with the Fort Hays Auto Sales Pregame Show at 5:40pm on Tiger Radio Mix-103.
Both teams return to MIAA play in Kirksville, Missouri Monday afternoon against Truman State. The women tip at 1pm with the men to follow around 3pm. Coverage on Tiger Radio Mix-103 begins at 12:4pm with the Fort Hays Auto Sales Pregame Show.
The Fort Hays State men’s basketball team moved up six spots in the latest set of national rankings, released on Tuesday night (Dec. 20). The Tigers move back into the Top 10 for the second time this year, this time at No. 9, their highest ranking of the season yet. Fort Hays State is 9-1 overall and resumes action on Monday, January 2 at Truman.
The Tigers benefitted from several teams in front of them in the polls losing last week, while they helped their cause by defeating previously unbeaten Northwest Missouri State this past Saturday. The Bearcats were receiving votes in the poll last week, but fell back off that list this week.
Missouri Southern, ranked No. 6 this week, and Fort Hays State continue to be the only representatives from the MIAA in the rankings. Only five teams in front of the Tigers remain undefeated on the season, but there are still four undefeated teams behind the Tigers in the polls. Metro State retained the No. 1 ranking this week at 10-0 overall, trailed by Southern Indiana, Lincoln Memorial, and Kentucky Wesleyan, which all are undefeated as well.
The next poll will be released on Tuesday, January 3, due to inactivity of schools throughout the holiday week.
Below is the latest Top 25 poll…
NABC Division II Men’s Basketball Poll (Dec. 20)
1. Metropolitan State (Colo.) (10-0)
2. Southern Indiana (9-0)
3. Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) (12-0)
4. Kentucky Wesleyan (9-0)
5. Bellarmine (Ky.) (9-1) 6. Missouri Southern (11-1)
7. West Liberty (W.Va.) (10-1)
8. Cal Poly Pomona (6-0) 9. Fort Hays State (Kan.) (9-1)
10. Tarleton State (Texas) (9-1)
11. Winona State (Minn.) (10-1)
12. Colorado School of Mines (8-1)
13. Northern Kentucky (9-0)
14. Alabama-Huntsville (8-2)
15. Bowie State (Md.) (7-1)
16. Humboldt State (Calif.) (7-2)
17. Arkansas Tech (8-1)
18. Findlay (Ohio) (9-2)
19. Midwestern State (Texas) (9-0)
20. Alaska-Anchorage (7-2)
21. Minnesota State-Moorhead (9-0)
22. Augustana (S.D.) (8-2)
23. Indiana (Pa.) (7-2)
24. Benedict (S.C.) (3-1)
25. Winston-Salem State (N.C.) (7-0)
Others receiving votes: Western Washington 19, Georgia Southwestern 15, Rollins (Fla.) 14, South Carolina Aiken 13, Bentley (Mass.) 8, Southwestern Oklahoma State 8, Christian Brothers (Tenn.) 6, West Georgia 6, Hillsdale (Mich.) 5, Franklin Pierce (N.H.) 4, West Texas A&M 3.
Fort Hays State had three wrestlers place at the Midwest Wrestling Classic in Indianapolis, Ind., on Monday afternoon . Walker Clarke (184 pounds) and Dustin Dooley (141 pounds) each finished sixth in their respective weight classes, while Derek Koehn (157 pounds) finished seventh. Fort Hays State finished 15th out of 25 in the team competition.
Fort Hays State finished with 50.5 points. The Tigers were ninth after the first day of competition, but dropped six spots on day two. Newberry (S.C.) won the team competition with 117.0 points, edging Upper Iowa, which had 115.5.
Clarke went unbeaten on the first day of competition, but suffered his first loss of the season to start the second day, losing in the semifinals to Kyle Reid of McKendree by a 14-4 major decision. He then defaulted out of the tournament, which gave him sixth place. He is now 11-1 overall to start the year.
Dooley won his first match on Monday by a 15-0 tech fall before losing in the consolation semifinals by a 9-4 decision. He then lost the fifth-place match by a 10-3 decision to BJ Young of Newberry.
Koehn lost his first match on Monday by a 6-1 decision, but his seventh-place match opponent defaulted out of the tournament, giving him seventh.
The Fort Hays State Tigers used a 19-5 first half run to build a 15-point lead and defeat the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats 83-64 Saturday afteroon at Gross Coliseum.
The Bearcats outscored the Tigers 12-6 to open the second half and pulled within eight but could get no closer. The respond with a 7-0 run to go up 15 and led by as many as 21 with under a minute to play.
Moses Dayee hit five 3-pointers playing in his first game of the season and finished with 19 points. Matt Simmons added 19 points and nine rebounds. Tyrone Phillips scored 14 and Karron McKenzie 12.
FHSU shoots 54-percent from the floor, hit 8-of-17 3’s and were 15-of-19 from the free throw line.
The Tigers improve to 9-1 and 3-1 in the MIAA while Northwest falls to 9-1 and also 3-1 in the MIAA.
The Fort Hays State Lady Tigers overcome a poor shooting game with good free throw shooting and strong rebounding to knock off Northwest Missouri State 65-45 Saturday afternoon at Gross Coliseum.
The Tigers shot just 35-percent for the game but hit 9-of-11 free throws and outrebounded the Bearcats by 18. Northwest shot only 29-percent including 0-10 from 3-point range.
Fort Hays State never trailed, leading 35-21 at the half and were up as many as 24 in the second half.
Kate Edwards recorded her fourth double-double of the season scoring 17 points and grabbing a season-best 16 rebounds. Melissa Nelson came off the bench to score 16 on 4-of-7 3-point shooting. Traci Keyser added 12 despite going 1 of 8 from three point range.
The Lady Tigers are 10-1 for just the third time in school history and the first since the 1990-91 NAIA national championship season.
Fort Hays State linebacker Alex Whitehill has been named to the first-team and punter Ethan Kosjer to the second-team of the Daktronics Division II All-American football team. The McPherson senior is one of eight MIAA players named to the first team by the Division II sports information directors.
Whitehill finished the season leading NCAA Division II in tackles with 164, just five short of the Division II single-season record. However, he did set a new school record for tackles in a season, breaking the old mark of 150 set by Junior Hartig in 1979. He also set a new NCAA Division II record for assisted tackles in a season with 106, breaking the old mark of 105 set by Brian Holliday of Fayetteville State in 2002. Whitehill recorded at least 10 tackles in nine of 11 games this year and never had less than seven in a game. He had at least 20 tackles in a game three times this year.
Kosjer led the MIAA in punting average for the second straight season, this year at 44.4 yards per boot. Kosjer ended the season ranked third in NCAA Division II in punting average. He set new single-season and career records at FHSU for punting average. His 44.4 yards per kick this year eclipsed the old mark of 43.2 set by Adam Ryan in 2000 and his career average of 42.7 passed the mark of 41.4, also set by Ryan.
2011 Daktronics All America Football Team Offense First Team Pos Player School Class Ht. Wt. Hometown
TE David Cannon Central Missouri Jr 6-2 240 St. Louis, Mo.
OL Amini Silatolu Midwestern State Sr. 6-3 320 Tracy, Calif.
OL Joe Long Wayne State (Mich.) Sr. 6-6 308 Lapeer, Mich.
OL Rod Williams Northwest Missouri Jr. 6-5 300 Grandview, Mo.
OL Garth Heikkinen Minnesota-Duluth Jr. 6-4 305 Duluth, Minn.
OL Darrell Leopold Delta State (Miss.) Sr. 6-2 305 Laurel, Miss.
WR Trey McVay Northeastern State Sr. 5-9 188 Muskogee, Okla.
WR Thomas Mayo California (Pa.) Sr. 6-2 200 Reston, Va. QB Dane Simoneau Washburn (Kan.) Sr. 6-3 227 Salina, Kan.
RB Jonas Randolph Mars Hill (N.C.) Sr. 5-10 185 Daleville, Ala.
RB Joe Glendening Hillsdale (Mich.) Jr. 5-10 188 East Grand Rapids, Mich.
RS John Brown Pittsburg State (Kan.) So. 5-1 170 Homestead, Fla.
PK Greg Zuerlein Missouri Western Sr. 6-0 190 Lincoln, Neb.
Second Team Pos Player School Class Ht. Wt. Hometown
TE Brian Leonhardt Bemidji State (Minn.) Jr. 6-5 253 Blaine, Minn.
OL Kyle Thornton North Alabama Sr. 6-4 345 Dallas, Texas
OL Cody Johnson Northwest Missouri Sr. 6-2 290 Jasper, Mo.
OL Tyler Hendrickson Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) Sr. 6-8 318 St. Paul, Minn.
OL Stephen Goodin Nebraska-Kearney Sr. 6-6 310 Hastings, Neb.
OL Chandler Rearden Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) Sr. 6-1 265 Greenwood, S.C.
WR Trevor Kennedy Mercyhurst (Pa.) Sr. 6-0 200 Akron, Ohio
WR Troy Burrell Wayne State (Mich.) Sr. 5-10 182 Port Huron, Mich.
QB Adam Neugebauer West Virginia Wesleyan Sr. 6-2 210 Pittsburgh, Pa.
RB Jonathan Woodson Texas A&M-Kingsvllle Jr. 5-10 185 Missouri City, Texas
RB Travis Daniels North Carolina-Pembroke Sr. 5-10 205 Washington, N.C.
RS Deonte Gist Tusculum (Tenn.) Sr. 5-9 175 Wllford, S.C.
PK Kyle Major Colorado State-Pueblo Sr. 6-3 230 Littleton, Colo.
Defense First Team Pos Player School Class Ht. Wt. Hometown
DL David Bass Missouri Western Jr. 6-5 260 St. Louis, Mo.
DL Connor Wright Colorado Mesa Sr. 6-1 250 Wheat Ridge, Colo.
DL Jonas Celian West Virginia Wesleyan Jr. 6-1 210 North Lauderdale, Fla.
LB Marcus Dowtin North Alabama Sr. 6-2 225 Upper Marlboro, Md.
LB Nate Dreiling Pittsburg State (Kan.) So. 6-4 228 Hutchinson, Kan.
LB Alex Whitehill Fort Hays State (Kan.) Sr. 6-3 220 McPherson, Kan.
LB Jamarkus Gaskins Albany State (Ga.) Sr. 6-2 220 Tifton, Ga.
S Clarence Laster Southwestern Oklahoma Sr. 6-0 190 Hemet, Calif.
S Brody Scheff Bemidji State Sr. 6-0 206 Waconia, Minn.
CB Arthur Hobbs Nebraska-Kearney Sr. 5-11 190 San Diego, Calif.
CB Elijah Davis Shepherd (W. Va.) Sr. 5-8 192 Silver Spring, Md.
P Taylor Accardi Colorado Mines Jr. 6-2 205 Littleton, Colo.
Second Team Pos Player School Class Ht. Wt. Hometown
DL Aston Whiteside Abilene Christian Sr. 6-0 285 Vernon, Texas
DL Todd Storm Michigan Tech Sr. 6-0 250 Calumet, Mich.
DL Randy Colling Gannon (Pa.) Sr. 6-5 320 Arcade, N.Y.
LB Jordan Campbell N.M. Highlands Jr. 6-0 230 Corona, Calif.
LB Lee Meisner Colorado State-Pueblo Sr. 6-0 240 Sterling, Colo.
LB Jeremy Aguilar Texas A&M-Kingsville Jr. 6-1 235 Los Angeles, Calif.
LB Chad Kilgore Northwest Missouri Sr. 6-1 230 Orrick, Mo.
S Jeremy Jones Wayne State (Mich.) Sr. 5-10 189 Grand Rapids, Mich.
S Bryce Peila Western Oregon Jr. 6-1 200 Central Point, Ore.
CB Dominique Davenport Delta State (Miss.) Sr. 5-10 180 Baldwyn, Miss.
CB Janoris Jenkins North Alabama Sr. 5-10 185 Pahokee, Fla.
P Ethan Kosje Fort Hays State (Kan.) Sr. 6-3 195 Douglass, Kan.
The team, which is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems, is voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Fort Hays State Lady Tiger hit three of their first four 3-point attempts, building an early six-point lead and go on to defeat Nebraska-Kearney 63-50 Tuesday night at the Health and Sports Center.
The Lopers pulled within one on several occasions in the first half but could never get the lead. They were within three early in the second half before Fort Hays used a 26-13 run to go up 16 with 6:04 to play.
The Tigers outrebound Nebraska-Kearney by 21 but turn the ball over a season-high 25 times.
Kate Edwards scored 13 of her team-high 15 points in the second half. Traci Keyser added 14 along with seven rebounds. Crista Bechard added 13 as the Tigers improve to 9-1 for the fourth time in school history.
UNK continues their worst start in school history, dropping to 0-9. The Lopers have lost 10 straight going back to last season, one off the school record for consecutive losses.
