JOPLIN, Mo. - The Fort Hays State women's cross country team ran its way to a ninth-place finish at the 2021 NCAA DII Central Region Championships Saturday morning (Nov. 6) at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course. The Tigers defeated 26 teams in the field while placing fifth amongst MIAA competition two weeks after finishing sixth at the league championships.
Six of the seven Tigers set new personal-bests at the six-kilometer distance.
Brooke Navarro led the Tigers with a 28th-place finish after completing the race in 21:51.56, improving her PR by more than 30 seconds. Abigail Stewart placed 53rd in the 237-runner field after crossing the line in 22:18.36, 25 seconds ahead of her previous 6K PR.
Emily Salmans ran more than one minute faster than her time at the MIAA Championships two weeks ago after placing 62nd with a time of 22:28.50. Halle Johnson shaved more than a minute and a half off her best 6K, finishing 81st with a mark of 22:53.52. Jaycee Vath finished just behind in 82nd with a time of 22:57.4, more than one minute faster than her previous best 6K.
Augustana took home the regional title with 33 points after placing four runners in the top 10, while Winona State's Lindsay Cunningham was the top individual with a time of 20:22.6.
The Tigers have now finished in the top 10 in the region 10 times during Dr. Jason McCullough's 16-season tenure at FHSU.
The Tigers will now await the announcement of the full field selected to compete in the NCAA DII Championships, scheduled to be released on Monday (Nov. 8).
Full FHSU Results
9th - Fort Hays State - 306 points
28th - Brooke Navarro - 21:51.56
53rd - Abigail Stewart - 22:18.36
62nd - Emily Salmans - 22:28.50
81st - Halle Johnson - 22:53.52
82nd - Jaycee Vath - 22:57.37
110th - Mya Navarro - 23:12.14
159th - Carson Pierce - 24:14.40
FHSU Athletics