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Tiger women, men finish fifth, sixth in MIAA meet
11/7/2010
By KLINT SPILLER
The Hays Daily News
Fort Hays State University junior cross country runner Heidi Hines didn't think she would run as fast as she did Saturday, and she had no plans of being the top runner for her squad.
Hines said she was just focused on running with Fort Hays' pack, and helping her team in the standings.
Running with that mindset, Hines surprised herself, ran a season best and led the women's squad to a fifth-place finish in the MIAA Championships at the FHSU Course. She also earned herself All-MIAA Honorable Mention honors.
It was the first time this season Hines had finished as the team's first runner.
"Before the race, we talked about how we were going to run as a team and how you are not running for just yourself," Hines said. "You are running for the nine other girls that are out there."
Hines finished 16th in 22 minutes, 35.6 seconds on the 6,000-meter course, helping her team finish in front of No. 13 Truman State University by six points.
Fort Hays finished with a score of 134, and No. 11 Pittsburg State University won the meet with a score of 44.
"(Hines) just gets stronger and stronger," Tiger coach Jason McCullough said. "She has more confidence now. When you are confident, you run well, especially when you are fit. She brought it today."
Seniors Hali Mobley and Amie Algrim followed closely behind in 19th and 20th in times of 22:46.9 and 22:47.8, also earning All-MIAA Honorable Mention honors.
Junior Raven Boettger and sophomore Gentry Linscott rounded out the scoring in 36th and 45th, running times of 23:23.7 and 23:39.5, respectively.
The split between first and fifth was only 1:03.9.
"Hali, Ami, Gentry and I -- when we run together in practice, I feel like it really pushes us," Hines said. "When we get into race mode, I feel the same way. I feel like I am running with them again."
On the men's side, the Tigers finished in sixth place as a team with a score of 133. No. 17 University of Central Missouri won the meet, scoring 37 points.
Senior Cameron Rieth and junior Tanner Christensen earned All-MIAA Honorable Mention, finishing 12th and 15th in 25:06.9 and 25:19 on the 8,000-meter course, respectively.
"I just keep improving," Christensen said. "As a junior, I think I am doing pretty well. Hopefully, I peak at regionals, but I am proud of it."
Sophomore Alex Hendee finished 29th in 25:52.4, and junior Jared Shillington and freshman Kyle Calvin wrapped up the scoring in 39th and 41st place in 26:05.6 and 26:07.6
It was the first time Calvin, a Ness City alumnus, has cracked the top five.
"I don't know if it was him going to state last week and watching Ness City run that pumped him up, but he went out there today running harder than normal and stayed with it," McCullough said. "There were a few times where I thought he was going to fall off, but he refocused and finished very strong."
McCullough said he was pleased with how his team ran having multiple runners either break or come near to breaking personal records, but he said the competitiveness of the MIAA was too much for his teams to crack the top four on either side.
"I know we always do well at regionals, and we struggle here at conference," McCullough said. "We just have to find out why and find out how we can change that."
The Tigers will race at the South Central Regional Championships hosted by Central Missouri on Nov. 20 in Warrensburg, Mo.
"Regionals is what matters more," Christensen said. "Hopefully, we peak, and everyone else doesn't. Last year, I know we did better at regionals than we did at conference. Hopefully, that will be the case again."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |