FHSU Athletics
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Fort Hays State cross country teams both finished in the top four at the Gans Creek Classic, hosted by the University of Missouri. The women's team placed second with three Tigers in the top seven, while the men were fourth after placing one runner in the top five.
The women were second overall and first amongst Division II competition, including topping the team leaderboard amongst the six MIAA programs in attendance. The Tigers collected 55 points from their top five runners, with all five finishing in the top 21 out of 120 runners.
Regan Hodsden was the top finisher for the women's team, finishing fifth with a time of 22:18.1. Jaycee Vath was close behind in sixth after crossing the line in 22:25.8, with Darian Hudgeons making it three-straight Tigers to cross the line with a seventh-place finish in 22:30.0. Hodsden, Vath and Hudgeons ran in a pack for much of the race, starting the race towards the back of the top 20 at the first 1,000m split before slowly working their way forward the rest of the way.
Emily Salmans traversed the six-kilometer course in 23:14.8 to place 16th, while Elizabeth Fender rounded out the Tiger scoring five in 21st place with a time of 23:31.5.
The men placed fourth out of 14 teams in attendance with 128 team points, including wins over two of the other four MIAA programs that competed at Gans Creek. Grant Bradley picked up another top-five finish while pacing the Tigers for the third time this year, finishing fifth in 24:53.0. The sophomore ran with the front of the pack all morning, never falling below fifth at any of the 1,000m splits.
Ethan Fisher finished in 18th place out of 150 runners with a time of 25:38.5. After starting the race in the middle of the pack, the Garden City, Kan. native worked his way through the crowd at almost every split. He sat in 41st at the 1,000m mark before reaching the top 20 by the 6,000m line.
Cori DeBoest shaved more than 40 seconds off his eight-kilometer time from two weeks ago, finishing in 25th place with a time of 25:51.4. Jaret Pfizenmaier ran a collegiate career-best 26:10.2 to finish in 37th place, while Erick Estrada rounded out the Tiger top five in 51st place after crossing the finish line in 26:27.0.
The Tigers will compete in one more regular season race at the Trojan Invitational in Colby, Kan. on October 15 before jumping into the postseason in November.
Full FHSU Results
Women
2nd - Team - 55 points
5th - Regan Hodsden - 22:18.1
6th - Jaycee Vath - 22:25.8
7th - Darian Hudgeons - 22:30.0
16th - Emily Salmans - 23:14.8
21st - Elizabeth Fender - 23:31.5
38th - Ashlyn Harbaugh - 24:22.2
41st - Hattie Lukert - 24:26.7
42nd - Brooke Navarro - 24:26.9
56th - Mya Navarro - 25:00.9
80th - Ursula Billings - 26:04.7
93rd - Hannah Wiebe - 27:07.2
95th - Elka Billings - 27:14.0
DNF - Gretchen Kuffel
Men
4th - Team - 128 points
5th - Grant Bradley - 24:53.0
18th - Ethan Fisher - 25:38.5
25th - Cori DeBoest - 25:51.4
37th - Jaret Pfizenmaier - 26:10.2
51st - Erick Estrada - 26:27.0
54th - Trever Medina - 26:30.1
61st - Corbin Ricke - 26:39.3
66th - Aaron Mangan - 26:46.7
67th - Matthew Schrag - 26:48.4
71st - Javyn Contreras - 26:59.2
77th - Lucas Cisneros - 27:10.6
98th - Ethan Lang - 27:53.0
101st - Isaac Radke - 28:01.2
118th - Ethan Emmons - 28:48.1