KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Three MIAA softball teams punched their tickets to the post-season as the NCAA Division II Regional Field was announced Monday.

Central Oklahoma will be the top seeded team from the MIAA as they will be the #3 seed in the Minnesota State-Mankato sub-regional and face off with sixth seeded Pittsburg State who will also represent the MIAA.

Missouri Western will head to the Harding sub-regional and face off with the top seeded host as the eighth seed.

Harding and MWSU will face off at 2:30 p.m. in Searcy, Ark. on May 11 while UCO takes on PSU at 1:30 p.m. on May 11 from Mankato, Minn.

MIAA

BOLIVAR, Mo. – Fort Hays State Men’s Track and Field finished fifth at the MIAA Championships, held May 5-7. The Tigers had five athletes earn All-MIAA honors, which included two individual champions, Brett Meyer and Dillando Allotey.

After a sixth place finish in the 200-meter prelims, Allotey surprised the field with a first place finish in 20.91 seconds, picking up his first MIAA title. The time vaulted him to eighth on the national performance list with Miguel Barton of Lincoln. Barton ran the same time in the prelims on Saturday. Allotey also improved his provisional mark in the 400 meters, despite a fourth-place finish, when he crossed the line in 47.09. The time ties for 11th best in the nation this year.

Meyer earned his first MIAA title in the 800 meters. He topped the competition in the finals with a time of 1:50.93, his second fastest time of the year. He continues to rank inside the top 15 on the national performance list at 13th.

Decano Cronin finished race two spots behind Meyer earning his first all-conference honor in the 800. The Ireland native broke the MIAA meet record in the prelims running a phenomenal time of 1:49.98, however he was unable to repeat the sub-1:50 performance Sunday, but still took third with a time of 1:53.52. Cronin’s preliminary time moved him up to eighth on the national performance list.

TJ Dozier was the third champion for the Tigers, topping the field in the discus. He launched a throw of 167 feet, 7 inches on his final attempt for the win. His best effort in the event, thrown earlier in the season, has him 16th on the national performance list.

Kolt Newell earned All-MIAA honors in the high jump for the second straight year, finishing runner up in the high jump. The sophomore leaped a height of 6 feet, 9.5 inches, the same height he took third with last year at the championships. It was just a bit shy of his best mark of the season that has him 11th on the national performance list.

Another solid performance came from Derek Bixenman in the decathlon. Finishing fourth, Bixenman turned in a record setting performance of 6,642 points, and breaking the 10-year old FHSU record of 6,618 points set by Alan Yoder. The effort was good for a provisional mark, ranking him 21st on the national performance list.

Sam Dreiling hit a provisional mark in the pole vault with a vault of 15 feet, 11 inches to finish seventh. However, it was not his best vault on the season as he cleared 16 feet, 1.25 inches earlier this year. Weston Riner (seventh – decathlon) and Luke Chism (eighth – discus) also earned team points individually. The 4×400 team of Mathew Pieper, Meyer, Cronin, and Allotey finished fourth.

As a team the Tigers generated 64 points. Lincoln and Central Missouri led the way, tying for the team title with 134 points. Missouri Southern followed with 126 points to finish third.

Men’s Team Scores

BOLIVAR, Mo. – Fort Hays State Women’s Track and Field place fifth at the MIAA Championships, held May 5-7. Three of the four All-MIAA performers for the Tigers were event champions, while placing in the top three in five events.

Shea Bonine  was the only individual on the squad to earn All-MIAA status in multiple events this year, winning the 5,000 meters and taking third in the 1,500 meters. Bonine repeated as MIAA-Champion for the second straight year in the 5,000. She crossed the line in the 1,500 meters in 4:39.01, her fastest time in the event this year.

Micki Krzesinski was also a repeat champ for the Tigers, doing so in the 10,000 meters on Saturday with a time of 36:54.25. The time was fast enough for the NCAA provisional qualifying list, but she already holds the 11th fastest time in the nation this season. She also placed fifth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:06.79.

Competing for the first time at the MIAA Championships, freshman Alexcia Deutscher picked up her first championship in the javelin. Her throw of 147 feet, 7 inches bested the competition by more than two feet, but was not her best throw this season. Her throw of nearly 157 feet continues to rank third on the national performance list.

Kelly Wycoff was the fourth All-MIAA performer for the women, earning the honor in the 400 meters. In the prelims, she broke her own FHSU record of 55.48 seconds, which she set just last week, with a time of 54.80. The time also improved her provisional mark on the year to 15th fastest in the nation. In the finals, she turned in a second-place performance for all-conference honors with a time of 54.95 seconds. She placed sixth in the finals of the 200 meters with a time of 24.43 seconds, after running 24.16 in the prelims. Her best effort in the 200 has her ranked 18th on the national performance list.

Courtney Geiger nearly earned all-conference honors in the discus, finishing fourth with her effort of 145 feet, 9 inches. Amanda Hurla was sixth in the javelin with a throw of 133 feet, 2 inches, which gave her a provisional mark in the event. Selam Ball also had a provisional mark in the pole vault at 12 feet, 0.75 inches, finishing ninth although she matched the height of four other vaulters in the field.

Other team point scorers for the Tigers included Lauren Roberts in the 800 and 1,500 meters and Chelsea Jackson in the 10,000 meters. The 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams of Sharee Zombo, Yanoudji Diarra, Lindsay Shupe and Kelly Wycoff both finished seventh to earn team points.

Fort Hays State generated 70 points as a team to edge Lincoln in the standings. Pittsburg State ran away with the team title with 212 points, while Missouri Southern (95 points) and Central Missouri (90 points) rounded out the top three. Full standings are listed below.

Women’s Team Scores

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as they rally for a 5-4 win over Fort Hays State, completing the three-game series sweep over the Tigers Sunday afternoon at Bearcat Field.

With the win, the Bearcats (31-18, 19-16 MIAA) lock down the No. 7 seed in the upcoming MIAA Tournament in Joplin. The Tigers end their season 10-39 and 3-33 in conference play.

The Tigers grabbed a 4-3 lead with two runs in the top of the seventh on a Nick Hammeke groundout and Trevor Hughes single.

The Bearcats responded in the eighth with a leadoff home run from Landon Figg off starter Ben Ramberg to tie the game. They took the lead on an infield fly with the bases loaded.

Fort Hays State was retired in order with two strikeouts and a fly out in the ninth to end the game.

Ramberg (0-9) suffered the loss, allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits with three strikeouts and four walks over 7 innings.

Marcus Altman, Dayton Pomeroy and Ryan Imber each had two of the FHSU’s 11 hits. Senior Nick Hammeke drove in two runs.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat the Fort Hays State baseball team 5-2.

The Bearcats strung together three straight singles off of starter Alex Ruxlow after he retired the first two batters of the inning to go up 4-2. A fourth hit following a stolen base and an error closed out the Northwest scoring.

Ruxlow allowed all five runs, three earned, on 12 hits over 7 2/3 innings and takes the loss.

Down 2-0, the Tigers got on the board on Ty Redington’s single to right center field which scored Clayton Basgall in the fifth. Dayton Pomeroy hit a solo homer an inning later to tie the game 2-2.

The Tigers close out their season Sunday in the series finale at 1pm.