Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, November 2
Waco, Texas
Kansas State University
vs
Big 12 Championship
Schroeder, Shufelberger Claim Top-25 Spots at Big 12 Championship
Nov 02, 2019 | Cross Country
WACO, Texas – Freshman Jaybe Shufelberger and sophomore Jackson Schroeder each took home top-25 finishes to lead the Kansas State men's and women's cross country teams at the 24th annual Big 12 Championship at the Cottonwood Creek Golf Course.
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Shufelberger, a native of Topeka, Kansas, finished 14th overall with a time of 21:04.9 in the 6k race to become the highest Wildcat women's finisher at the Big 12 Championships in four years since Morgan Wedekind finished 10th at the 2015 Big 12 Championships. Schroeder, who finished 22nd overall with a time of 24:21.2 in the 8k race, posted the best time by a men's runner since Mathew Chesang ran a time of 24:12.9 to finish third in 2004.
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The men's team, buoyed by three runners in the top 30, placed sixth with 150 points, just three points shy of fifth-place Texas Tech, who tallied 147 points. The 150 points were the second-best scored at the Championships in the Big 12 era, just eight points short of the 142 scored in 2017. The men's team, which had finished in the top 5 in each of the past two seasons, still posted a tie for the fourth-best finish at the Big 12 Championships, only bested by the fourth-place finish in 2017 and fifth-place finishes in 1998 and 2018.
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The women's team, boosted by Shufelberger's All-Big 12 performance, collected 214 points to finish eighth, which was highest finish since a seventh-place placing in 2015 and a two-place improvement from 2018.
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Shufelberger is just the 12th women's runner to earn All-Big 12 honors and the first since Wedekind in 2015, while she is the first Wildcat freshman to claim all-conference honors since Stefanie Murer accomplished this feat with a fifth-place individual performance in 2003.Â
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"First off, I am proud of both the men and women today," said head coach Ryun Godfrey. "Certainly, they all gave great outings and specifically Jackson's and Jaybe's. Obviously for the women, it is nice to make an improvement this year and with key redshirts going to be put in the lineup next year, we should be stronger. I thought we prepared well for this meet and I am excited for the future for how young we are. It was a close race for the men's side and we knew we wanted to place higher. It is good motivation for them and being this young, they have a few more cracks at this in the future."
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Iowa State won its third consecutive men's Big 12 Championship with six runners in the top 11 and 34 points, while Oklahoma State captured its first women's Big 12 title since 2015 by edging Texas, 52-54.
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The brother tandem of Jackson and Cooper Schroeder would highlight three men's runners in the top 30 at the event, as Jackson finished in 22nd place with a time of 24:21.2 and Cooper placed 29th with a time of 24:46.8. Cooper earns back-to-back top 30 finishes at the Championships, while eclipsing his previous time by nearly 5 seconds after placing 22nd with a time of 24:51.5 in 2018. Junior Ethan Powell was the third runner to finish in the top 30, collecting a time of 24:47.3 to earn a 30th-place finish.
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"For Jackson (Schroeder) to battle through all those illnesses over the past few years and to compete like this today was truly special and I am proud of his performance," said Godfrey.
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Rounding out the rest of the men's lineup would be freshman Hadley Splechter (34th, 24:59.4), junior Noah Stevenson (36th, 25:02.9), freshmen David Lutgen (38th, 25:08.4), Kerby Depenbusch (45th, 25:20.0) and Jack Thomas (47th, 25:26.7), sophomore Dylan Brenneman (57th, 25:55.4) and freshman Mike Rohlinger (59th, 25:55.5).
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Each of the top-eight times today all eclipsed the previous bests times by a Wildcat at the Cottonwood Golf Course, while Jackson Schroeder, Brenneman, Thomas, Stevenson, Lutgen and Rohlinger all reached new career-bests in an 8k race.
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Starting shortly after the men's race was the women's 6k race, where Shufelberger showed her competitive edge to earn her highest placement in a 6k race this season en route to a 14th place finish with a time of 21:04.9. It was the best time by a Wildcat at the Big 12 Championships since Kayla Doll ran a time of 21:00.2 to finish 21st at the 2017 Championships. Overall, Shufelberger's time was the 14th-best 6k time in school history.
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"For Jaybe (Shufelberger) to be All-Big 12 is truly an impressive performance," stated Godfrey.
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Shufelberger had her take on what she needed to do in order to garner a spot in the top 15.
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"Going into the race, I had two goals which were to be in the top 20 and to run in the 21s", stated Shufelberger. "I knew both were possible, but it was going to take a lot to accomplish that. I couldn't have asked for a better race. I learned from my last race and improved on staying mentally strong when it gets hard and moving my way up throughout the race."
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Along with Shufelberger's effort, several other Wildcats enjoyed impressive efforts, including sophomore Cayli Hume (54th, 22:37.4), freshman Hannah Stewart (56th, 22:44.6), senior Anna Keeley (58th, 22:47.8), freshman Sydney Burton (75th, 23:38.8), freshman Delaney Kemp (78th, 23:53.9) and freshman Cailan Steward (81st, 24:23.9). Shufelberger, Hume, Kemp, Burton and Stewart all garnered new career-best times in a 6k meet.
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The Wildcats will now head to Stillwater, Oklahoma to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regionals, which begins on Friday, November 15 at the OSU Cross Country Course. During last year's meet, both squads notched top-20 finishes as the men's team earned an overall placing at 17th while the women's team claimed a 18th place finish.
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For the latest on K-State cross country follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter or Kansas State Track & Field/Cross Country on Facebook.
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Men's team finishes: 1. Iowa State, 34 points; 2. Oklahoma State, 58 points; 3. Texas, 72 points; 4. Kansas, 92 points; 5. Texas Tech, 147 points; 6. K-State, 150 points; 7. Baylor, 213 points; 8. Oklahoma, 221 points; 9. TCU, 287 points.
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K-State men's finishes: 22. Jackson Schroeder, 24:21.2; 29. Cooper Schroeder, 24:46.8; 30. Ethan Powell, 24:47.3; 34. Hadley Splechter, 24:59.4; 36. Noah Stevenson, 25:02.9; 38. David Lutgen, 25:08.4; 45. Kerby Depenbusch, 25:20.0; 47. Jack Moore, 25:26.7; 57. Dylan Brenneman, 25:55.4; 59. Mike Rohlinger, 25:55.5;
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Women's team finishes: 1. Oklahoma State, 52 points; 2. Texas, 54 points; 3. West Virginia, 56 points; 4. Iowa State, 77 points; 5. Texas Tech, 155 points; 6. Kansas, 167 points; 7. Baylor, 198 points; 8. K-State, 214 points; 9. Oklahoma, 275 points; 10. TCU, 297 points.
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K-State women's finishes: 14. Jaybe Shufelberger, 21:04.9; 54. Cayli Hume, 22:37.4; 56. Hannah Stewart, 22:44.6; 58. Anna Keeley, 22:47.8; 75. Sydney Burton, 23:38.8; 78. Delaney Kemp, 23:53.9; 81. Cailan Steward, 24:23.9
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Shufelberger, a native of Topeka, Kansas, finished 14th overall with a time of 21:04.9 in the 6k race to become the highest Wildcat women's finisher at the Big 12 Championships in four years since Morgan Wedekind finished 10th at the 2015 Big 12 Championships. Schroeder, who finished 22nd overall with a time of 24:21.2 in the 8k race, posted the best time by a men's runner since Mathew Chesang ran a time of 24:12.9 to finish third in 2004.
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The men's team, buoyed by three runners in the top 30, placed sixth with 150 points, just three points shy of fifth-place Texas Tech, who tallied 147 points. The 150 points were the second-best scored at the Championships in the Big 12 era, just eight points short of the 142 scored in 2017. The men's team, which had finished in the top 5 in each of the past two seasons, still posted a tie for the fourth-best finish at the Big 12 Championships, only bested by the fourth-place finish in 2017 and fifth-place finishes in 1998 and 2018.
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The women's team, boosted by Shufelberger's All-Big 12 performance, collected 214 points to finish eighth, which was highest finish since a seventh-place placing in 2015 and a two-place improvement from 2018.
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Shufelberger is just the 12th women's runner to earn All-Big 12 honors and the first since Wedekind in 2015, while she is the first Wildcat freshman to claim all-conference honors since Stefanie Murer accomplished this feat with a fifth-place individual performance in 2003.Â
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"First off, I am proud of both the men and women today," said head coach Ryun Godfrey. "Certainly, they all gave great outings and specifically Jackson's and Jaybe's. Obviously for the women, it is nice to make an improvement this year and with key redshirts going to be put in the lineup next year, we should be stronger. I thought we prepared well for this meet and I am excited for the future for how young we are. It was a close race for the men's side and we knew we wanted to place higher. It is good motivation for them and being this young, they have a few more cracks at this in the future."
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Iowa State won its third consecutive men's Big 12 Championship with six runners in the top 11 and 34 points, while Oklahoma State captured its first women's Big 12 title since 2015 by edging Texas, 52-54.
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The brother tandem of Jackson and Cooper Schroeder would highlight three men's runners in the top 30 at the event, as Jackson finished in 22nd place with a time of 24:21.2 and Cooper placed 29th with a time of 24:46.8. Cooper earns back-to-back top 30 finishes at the Championships, while eclipsing his previous time by nearly 5 seconds after placing 22nd with a time of 24:51.5 in 2018. Junior Ethan Powell was the third runner to finish in the top 30, collecting a time of 24:47.3 to earn a 30th-place finish.
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"For Jackson (Schroeder) to battle through all those illnesses over the past few years and to compete like this today was truly special and I am proud of his performance," said Godfrey.
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Rounding out the rest of the men's lineup would be freshman Hadley Splechter (34th, 24:59.4), junior Noah Stevenson (36th, 25:02.9), freshmen David Lutgen (38th, 25:08.4), Kerby Depenbusch (45th, 25:20.0) and Jack Thomas (47th, 25:26.7), sophomore Dylan Brenneman (57th, 25:55.4) and freshman Mike Rohlinger (59th, 25:55.5).
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Each of the top-eight times today all eclipsed the previous bests times by a Wildcat at the Cottonwood Golf Course, while Jackson Schroeder, Brenneman, Thomas, Stevenson, Lutgen and Rohlinger all reached new career-bests in an 8k race.
Â
Starting shortly after the men's race was the women's 6k race, where Shufelberger showed her competitive edge to earn her highest placement in a 6k race this season en route to a 14th place finish with a time of 21:04.9. It was the best time by a Wildcat at the Big 12 Championships since Kayla Doll ran a time of 21:00.2 to finish 21st at the 2017 Championships. Overall, Shufelberger's time was the 14th-best 6k time in school history.
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"For Jaybe (Shufelberger) to be All-Big 12 is truly an impressive performance," stated Godfrey.
Â
Shufelberger had her take on what she needed to do in order to garner a spot in the top 15.
Â
"Going into the race, I had two goals which were to be in the top 20 and to run in the 21s", stated Shufelberger. "I knew both were possible, but it was going to take a lot to accomplish that. I couldn't have asked for a better race. I learned from my last race and improved on staying mentally strong when it gets hard and moving my way up throughout the race."
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Along with Shufelberger's effort, several other Wildcats enjoyed impressive efforts, including sophomore Cayli Hume (54th, 22:37.4), freshman Hannah Stewart (56th, 22:44.6), senior Anna Keeley (58th, 22:47.8), freshman Sydney Burton (75th, 23:38.8), freshman Delaney Kemp (78th, 23:53.9) and freshman Cailan Steward (81st, 24:23.9). Shufelberger, Hume, Kemp, Burton and Stewart all garnered new career-best times in a 6k meet.
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The Wildcats will now head to Stillwater, Oklahoma to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regionals, which begins on Friday, November 15 at the OSU Cross Country Course. During last year's meet, both squads notched top-20 finishes as the men's team earned an overall placing at 17th while the women's team claimed a 18th place finish.
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For the latest on K-State cross country follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter or Kansas State Track & Field/Cross Country on Facebook.
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Men's team finishes: 1. Iowa State, 34 points; 2. Oklahoma State, 58 points; 3. Texas, 72 points; 4. Kansas, 92 points; 5. Texas Tech, 147 points; 6. K-State, 150 points; 7. Baylor, 213 points; 8. Oklahoma, 221 points; 9. TCU, 287 points.
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K-State men's finishes: 22. Jackson Schroeder, 24:21.2; 29. Cooper Schroeder, 24:46.8; 30. Ethan Powell, 24:47.3; 34. Hadley Splechter, 24:59.4; 36. Noah Stevenson, 25:02.9; 38. David Lutgen, 25:08.4; 45. Kerby Depenbusch, 25:20.0; 47. Jack Moore, 25:26.7; 57. Dylan Brenneman, 25:55.4; 59. Mike Rohlinger, 25:55.5;
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Women's team finishes: 1. Oklahoma State, 52 points; 2. Texas, 54 points; 3. West Virginia, 56 points; 4. Iowa State, 77 points; 5. Texas Tech, 155 points; 6. Kansas, 167 points; 7. Baylor, 198 points; 8. K-State, 214 points; 9. Oklahoma, 275 points; 10. TCU, 297 points.
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K-State women's finishes: 14. Jaybe Shufelberger, 21:04.9; 54. Cayli Hume, 22:37.4; 56. Hannah Stewart, 22:44.6; 58. Anna Keeley, 22:47.8; 75. Sydney Burton, 23:38.8; 78. Delaney Kemp, 23:53.9; 81. Cailan Steward, 24:23.9
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Players Mentioned
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