FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State's Katie DeGarmo (women's basketball) and Myles Menges (football) have been selected as finalists for the annual MIAA Ken B. Jones Award, presented by Summit Pointe Financial Group, announced Tuesday by the conference office. The annual award recognizes the conference's male and female student-athletes of the year, combining athletic performance for the year, career academic accolades, and campus/community service.
DeGarmo and Menges are one of five finalists for each gender in 2025. DeGarmo joins Jenna Karp of Central Oklahoma (volleyball), Lauren Nylund of Missouri Western (women's soccer), Peyton Neff of Nebraska-Kearney (volleyball), and Karenna Gerber of Pittsburg State (women's basketball) as female finalists. Menges joins Tyler Kahmann of Emporia State (football), Cody Watson of Missouri Western (football), Crew Howard of Nebraska-Kearney (wrestling), and Mason Strader of Pittsburg State (cross country/track and field) as male finalists.
DeGarmo (formerly Wagner) was the winner of the 2024 Women's MIAA Ken B. Jones Award. She became the third winner of the Ken B. Jones Award from FHSU, joining Kate Lehman (women's basketball, 2015) and Ryan Stanley (men's track and field, 2023). Stanley received the MIAA Spring Student-Athlete of the Year honor and Whitney Randall (women's basketball) received the MIAA Winter Student-Athlete of the Year honor in 2021 when there was no all-sport inclusive Ken B. Jones Award. Specific seasons were recognized for fall/winter of 2019-20 and winter/spring of 2020-21 due to COVID-19 and did not have the Ken B. Jones moniker attached.
Katie DeGarmo – Women's Basketball
Katie DeGarmo had another tremendous year in 2024-25, earning the MIAA Women's Basketball Player of the Year honor for a second-straight season. She became the first repeat MIAA Women's Basketball Player of the Year since the 2002-03 season. DeGarmo was also named an All-America First Team selection by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and an All-America Third Team selection by the D2 Conference Commissioners' Association (D2CCA). She also earned CSC Academic All-America honors, just one of 16 student-athletes for women's basketball in NCAA Division II, in her final year at FHSU. DeGarmo was also selected to the MIAA All-Tournament Team for a second-straight year (was the Most Outstanding Player in 2024) and the NCAA Central Regional All-Tournament team for a second time in her career.
DeGarmo left her mark on the FHSU and MIAA record books, clearly asserting her position among the all-time Tiger greats and storied players in the history of one of the top NCAA Division II conferences in the country. She set both the FHSU and MIAA career records for rebounds with 1,248, passing the previous MIAA record by 13 (set in 1991) and the previous FHSU record by 139 (set in 2015). She now ranks second on the all-time scoring lists for both FHSU and the MIAA with 2,299 points, only behind Annette Wiles at FHSU and Michelle Stueve of Emporia State for the MIAA. In 2024-25, DeGarmo, Sage Hawley of Harding, and Ashley Ingram of Texas Woman's joined 44 other players in the history of NCAA Division II to finish with at least 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. DeGarmo also set new MIAA Tournament career records for scoring (227 pts), rebounds (117), field goals made (88), field goals attempted (182), and tied the records for double-doubles in points and rebounds (5) and games played (14).
DeGarmo helped Fort Hays State to its 14th-consecutive season of reaching at least 20 wins, the longest active streak in NCAA Division II. She helped the Tigers to their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 11 years and 10th overall. Wagner helped the Tigers earn a win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before falling in the Central Regional Semifinals. The Tigers finished the season at 28-5 overall.
Academically, DeGarmo put together an impressive career resume as a three-time CSC Academic All-District selection, four-time recipient of the MIAA Scholar-Athlete Award, five-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, and one-time recipient of the MIAA Academic Excellence Award to go with her CSC Academic All-America selection. She carried a perfect 4.0 GPA in her graduate studies, working on her MBA, and held a 3.87 GPA as an Accounting major in her undergraduate studies at FHSU.
DeGarmo was nominated for Accounting Student of the Year by the FHSU Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting in 2024. Wagner was nominated and selected by accounting faculty for a Graduate Teaching Assistantship following her December 2023 graduation. Back in the summer of 2023, she completed an accounting/analyst internship at Koch Industries in Wichita, Kansas, where she learned and developed new skills through hands-on experience in the accounting profession, including creating a new deferred revenue schedule for the business she supported.
DeGarmo was also very active in the community and on campus aside from her time on the court and in the classroom. Some of the highlights included serving on a leadership team for Encounter Young Adults, volunteering for Night to Shine for individuals in the community with special needs, volunteering at Bethesda Place helping individuals with disabilities, and joining teammates in a partnership with Team Impact which matches children facing serious illnesses and disabilities with college sports teams.
Myles Menges – Football
Myles Menges had a very strong final year on the field for Fort Hays State, helping the Tigers to an 8-3 record overall. Menges was the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year and an All-MIAA First Team selection on the defensive line. He also received AFCA All-America First Team, Don Hansen Football Committee All-America Honorable Mention, and D2Football.com Elite 100 Team honors for the 2024 season. He was also a D2CCA All-Super Region 3 selection. Menges was a finalist for the annual Cliff Harris Award for the top defensive player in NCAA Division II.
Menges finished the year with 27 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. He had an amazing 11 pass breakups as a defensive lineman, batting down several passes at the line of scrimmage. He led all defensive lineman in NCAA Division II in that category by a landslide, and it ranked 16th nationally all behind defensive backs, which dominate the category. He finished his career with 182 tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, two interceptions, 23 pass breakups, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
Academically, Menges produced a 3.75 GPA as an undergraduate and 3.81 GPA as a grad student at FHSU. He earned his bachelor's degree in Sport and Recreation Management, then his master's in Health and Human Performance. He was a CSC Academic All-America First Team selection on the defensive line for 2024. He was also a three-time CSC Academic All-District selection, four-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete honoree, and a six-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.
Aside from his athletic and academic accomplishments, Menges was a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, volunteered for Night to Shine honoring individuals in the community with special needs, a mentor for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Ellis County, and a volunteer for activities with Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas.
Fort Hays State has now had 20 Ken B. Jones Award/Student-Athlete of the Year finalists since joining the MIAA in 2006-07. FHSU has had at least one finalist for each of the last 13 awards (since 2014-15). The last time they had both female and male finalists was in 2023 (Ryan Stanley and Morgan Brasser).
Each institution may nominate only one female and one male student-athlete. The nominees must have completed at least their junior season of athletics eligibility by June 1 of the academic year of nomination. A nominee must have at least a 3.25 cumulative grade-point average through the previous full semester term through February 1 of the academic year of nomination at the certifying member institution.
A 15-member panel of athletics directors, senior woman administrators, faculty athletics representatives and sports information directors - including a representative from each member institution - select the finalists. Each nominee is judged in three areas, including 2024-25 athletic accomplishments, career academic accomplishments, and 2024-25 campus/community service.
Women's Finalists
Katie DeGarmo - Fort Hays State (women's basketball)
Karenna Gerber - Pittsburg State (women's basketball)
Jenna Karp - Central Oklahoma (volleyball)
Peyton Neff - Nebraska-Kearney (volleyball)
Lauren Nylund - Missouri Western (women's soccer)
Men's Finalists
Crew Howard - Nebraska-Kearney (wrestling)
Tyler Kahmann - Emporia State (football)
Myles Menges - Fort Hays State (football)
Mason Strader - Pittsburg State (cross country/track and field)
Cody Watson - Missouri Western (football)