By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – Fort Hays State sophomore Regan Hodsden earned All-America honors after placing 40th at the 2022 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships Friday afternoon at Chambers Creek Regional Park.
The Mitchell, Neb. native traversed the six-kilometer course in 21:20.8. After finding herself in 63rd place at the 600m split, Hodsden climbed into the top 50 by the one-mile post. She hovered around the 40th spot for the latter half of the race, passing one runner over the final kilometer to collect the last spot on the All-America podium. Hodsden beat 223 of the 263 competitors in the race to the finish line.
Adams State captured the team title for the third year in a row with 75 points, 51 in front of second-place Grand Valley State.
Hodsden was one of three MIAA student-athletes to earn All-America honors out of the 22 conference runners at the national meet. She is the second member of the FHSU women’s cross country team to earn All-America honors during the NCAA DII era and the first since Leslie Nielsen in 1994. It is the second-consecutive All-American medal for the Colby CC transfer after she placed ninth at the 2021 NJCAA DI Championships.
This is the second All-America honor for a Tiger during Dr. Jason McCullough‘s tenure as head coach, joining Cory Keehn from 2015.
Hodsden completed a trifecta of awards in the process, previously earning All-MIAA status after placing sixth at the league meet and picking up All-Region honors with her 15th-place finish at the Central Region Championships.
Hodsden and the rest of her Tiger teammates will now turn their attention indoors for the track and field season, set to begin next weekend (Dec. 9-10) at the Boo Rodgers Combined Events and the Crimson and Gold Invitational in Pittsburg, Kan.