Three Champs, Five All-MIAA Performers Help FHSU Men to 5th at MIAA Championships

FHSU Sports Information Department

BOLIVAR, Mo. – Fort Hays State Men’s Track and Field finished fifth at the MIAA Championships, held May 5-7. The Tigers had five athletes earn All-MIAA honors, which included two individual champions, Brett Meyer and Dillando Allotey.

After a sixth place finish in the 200-meter prelims, Allotey surprised the field with a first-place finish in 20.91 seconds, picking up his first MIAA title. The time vaulted him to eighth on the national performance list with Miguel Barton of Lincoln. Barton ran the same time in the prelims on Saturday. Allotey also improved his provisional mark in the 400 meters, despite a fourth-place finish, when he crossed the line in 47.09. The time ties for 11th best in the nation this year.

Meyer earned his first MIAA title in the 800 meters. He topped the competition in the finals with a time of 1:50.93, his second fastest time of the year. He continues to rank inside the top 15 on the national performance list at 13th.

Decano Cronin finished race two spots behind Meyer earning his first all-conference honor in the 800. The Ireland native broke the MIAA meet record in the prelims running a phenomenal time of 1:49.98, however, he was unable to repeat the sub-1:50 performance Sunday, but still took third with a time of 1:53.52. Cronin’s preliminary time moved him up to eighth on the national performance list.

TJ Dozier was the third champion for the Tigers, topping the field in the discus. He launched a throw of 167 feet, 7 inches on his final attempt for the win. His best effort in the event, thrown earlier in the season, has him 16th on the national performance list.

Kolt Newell earned All-MIAA honors in the high jump for the second straight year, finishing runner-up in the high jump. The sophomore leaped a height of 6 feet, 9.5 inches, the same height he took third with last year at the championships. It was just a bit shy of his best mark of the season that has him 11th on the national performance list.

Another solid performance came from Derek Bixenman in the decathlon. Finishing fourth, Bixenman turned in a record-setting performance of 6,642 points and breaking the 10-year old FHSU record of 6,618 points set by Alan Yoder. The effort was good for a provisional mark, ranking him 21st on the national performance list.

Sam Dreiling hit a provisional mark in the pole vault with a vault of 15 feet, 11 inches to finish seventh. However, it was not his best vault on the season as he cleared 16 feet, 1.25 inches earlier this year. Weston Riner (seventh – decathlon) and Luke Chism (eighth – discus) also earned team points individually. The 4×400 team of Matthew Pieper, Meyer, Cronin, and Allotey finished fourth.

As a team, the Tigers generated 64 points. Lincoln and Central Missouri led the way, tying for the team title with 134 points. Missouri Southern followed with 126 points to finish third.

Men’s Team Scores