FHSU Track and Field earns six gold medals, nine provisional at KU

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MADISON SHAPLAND

A large indoor meet was no problem for several Fort Hays State University indoor track athletes recently.

A total of 63 Tigers competed in Lawrence on Friday. The Jayhawk Classic Invitational resulted in six gold medals and nine provisional marks for the Fort Hays team. 

Regan Hodsden brought the first gold in the morning session’s 3,000-meter run in 10 minutes, 30 hundredths of a second. 

“I just wanted to run a good time and compete today,” Hodsden said. “This is my first meet coming off a knee injury, so I needed a good time and got that.”

In the 1-mile morning session, Lucas Cisneros finished first for the Tigers with a time of 4:31.55. 

“I got out a little slow and wished my time was a little faster. But at the end of the day, a win is a win and that feels good,” he said. 

For a third gold, Reba Mader ran a 1:37.68 in the 600-meter run. 

“Running that far can be kind of hard for a sprinter,” Mader said “It’s always a nice feeling to get a good time.”

Jaret Pfizenmaier was determined to finish at the top of the 3,000-meter run. 

“I knew I wanted to get out fast and lead with a 4:35 mile pace,” Pfizenmaier said. “My pace was a little slow at the mile, so I tried to kick it in. I wasn’t going to let a KU kid beat me.” 

Pfizenmaier finished with a time of 8:48.91.

Pulling through on top of the 400-meter dash in the evening session was Hayden Albright in a time of 49.17 seconds. 

“The win feels pretty great,” Albright said. “It was my first 400 in the season, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Overall, I’m pretty pleased with my performance.”

For the 800-meter run evening race, with a time of 1:53.28, Trevor Medina walked away with the first-place medal. 

Nine provisional marks were hit by Mattie Rossi in the 60-meter hurdles (8.67 seconds), Lyric Holman in the 60-meter (7.61) and 200-meter dashes (25.26), Philip Landrum in the 60-meter dash (6.86), Hodsden in the 3,000-meter, Albright in the 400 dash, both Trever Medina (1:53.28) and Aaron Mangan (1:53.73) in the 800, and Ryan Stanley in pole vault (5.16 meters).

The team has only three meets left before the MIAA Conference meet and four before nationals. The team will compete Friday and Saturday at Washburn University.