FHSU Athletics
INDIANAPOLIS - Fort Hays State's Emily Diercks earned an automatic qualifier spot to compete in the 2024 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, held next Saturday (Nov. 23) beginning at 1:15 p.m. (11:15 a.m. PT) at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course in Sacramento, Calif.
Diercks secured her trip to the national meet with a seventh-place finish at this weekend's Central Region Championships, where she was the second-highest finishing individual not on an advancing team with a time of 21:12.7.The Hoxie, Kan. native is no stranger to national championship events after competing in two NJCAA Cross Country national meets and three NJCAA track national events during her time at Colby CC. Diercks was a cross country All-American after finishing sixth as a sophomore in 2022, while she placed 51st as a freshman in 2021. She went on to earn numerous All-American trophies in track, including winning the 2023 NJCAA Indoor 3,000m national title.
Diercks has had a stellar junior campaign, finishing in the top seven at all five races in which she finished including a pair of victories. She was the MIAA individual champion and was an All-Region selection, placing behind only six DII runners all season.
This is the fourth-straight season the Tigers have sent an individual to the national race and the ninth time out of the last 12 DII national championships that have had some sort of Tiger representation.
The top three teams from each of eight regions earn automatic bids as a team, with 10 more teams nationwide being selected on an at-large basis. A total of five teams were chosen from the Central Region, with the Tigers being the top-finishing team to not earn a bid.
Augustana, Pittsburg State, Rogers State, U-Mary and Winona State will all compete as a team, while Diercks will be joined by three other individuals from the Central Region - Ella Buhlke from Nebraska-Kearney, Franny Seidel from Minnesota Duluth and Sophia Strange from Oklahoma Baptist. A total of 34 teams and 26 individuals will run in the national championships.