The Fort Hays State Cross Country team met the expectations of Jason McCullough, head coach, when they completed their first official meet of the season.
“I was very pleased with how they did at Colby,” McCullough said.
Both teams finished within the top three, with the women winning the meet and the men finishing second.
“Our women really went out and ran hard from the start and really asserted themselves,” McCullough said. “And I was very pleased with how our guys went out and did.”
Ramsey McCarter, Topeka junior, and Micki Krzesinski, Edwardsville sophomore, paced the way for the Tigers.
McCarter won the 4K course in 14:37, one second ahead of teammate Krzesinski who ran 14:38.
“Krzesinski set the tone of the race, got it going quick,” McCullough said. “They both feed off each other and Ramsey got her at the end.”
The team stayed packed together as it was a clean 1-2-3 sweep with Chelsea Jackson, Garden City freshman, coming in third right behind the two leaders at 14:43.
Alex Keehn, Clay Center senior, was fifth running 15:15, and Hannah Robinson was seventh at 15:27.
“They really did pack up well together,” McCullough said.
The Tigers finished with 10 of the top 13. Each of the 10 runners were within one minute and 10 seconds of each other.
“That’s pretty good considering our top runner ran 14:37,” McCullough said.
For the guys, they took second.
While McCullough says it may not appear they did very well, he is happy with how they came out and performed.
“We had three runners go under 16 minutes which is pretty good,” McCullough said.
Ryan Hopkins, Wichita junior, was the top runner for the Tigers.
“He (Hopkins) had one of his best meets,” McCullough said.
Hopkins finished third overall in the 5k race running 15:36. Redshirt Isaac Williams, Pretty Prairie junior, ran a personal best placing fourth with a time of 15:37 , and Troy Wineinger, Tribune sophomore, also ran a personal best at 15:57 placing ninth.
“We have three guys right now who have really stepped up and our far ahead of the others,” McCullough said.
Seth Parres, O’Fallon, Mo., junior, and Jake Spencer, Baxter Springs junior, rounded out the top runners for the Tigers.
Next on the schedule for the Tigers is the Hutchinson Blue Dragon Invitational on Sept.13. Both teams will compete at the meet.