Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, October 15
Stillwater, Okla.
8:30 a.m. (M) / 9:20 a.m. (W)
Kansas State University
vs
Weis-Crockett Invitational
Men, Women Finish 15th and 18th in Last Regular Season Meet
Oct 15, 2022 | Cross Country
Wildcats will next race in the Big 12 Championships on Oct. 28
The Kansas State men and women's cross country teams ran in the middle of the pack in a competitive field of 26 teams in the last regular season meet of the season on Saturday morning (October 15) at the Weis-Crockett Invitational in Stillwater, Okla.
In a field full of ranked teams, the men finished 15th with 403 points in the 8k race, ahead of Missouri and Kansas, while the women placed 18th with 457 points in the 6k. No. 25 Montana State won the men's race with 62 points and No. 19 Cal Baptist took first in the women's race with 50 points, while host and nationally-ranked Oklahoma State saw its fourth-ranked men place eighth and its third-ranked women finish second.
The top three men's runners had a bit of a shake-up, senior Stephen Kielhofner (53rd; 24:35.6) and junior Hadley Splechter (56th; 24:37.7) kept to their same pace from previous meets with junior Jack Moore (102nd; 25:09.2) finishing right outside of the top-100.
In his second meet of the season and his first 8k, sophomore Alex Gutierrez (202nd; 26:14.0) ran a new 8k personal best, 17 seconds faster than his previous time set last season. Junior Kerby Depenbusch (107th; 25:12.3), in just his second meet, shaved 21 seconds off his time at the Chile Pepper Festival on Sept. 30.
Sophomore Matthew Hauser (135th; 25:27.0) jumped up in the lineup running a whole minute faster than his time at the Chile Pepper Festival. Freshman Carson McEachern (219th; 26:46.1) kept pace in just his second collegiate 8k finishing only 5 seconds back from his last 8k.
In the women's first 6k of the season, three Wildcats finished in the top-100, including juniors Hannah Stewart (39th; 21:39.9), Cailan Steward (76th; 22:06.0) and Sydney Burton (97th; 22:21.5).
Three women ran their first collegiate 6k, including freshmen Cecilia Fisher (141st; 22:55.0) and Katie Schwartzkopf (202nd; 24:08.9) and sophomore Kate Kowalik (228th; 26:35.3).
FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head Coach Randy Cole
On the competitive field of teams…
"The men were pretty steady in a real nice quality field of teams from across the country. They were moving up the whole race, each kilometer they were moving up in the team scores real well, they were finishing well, but they probably just being conservative put themselves back quite a bit. The women were okay, but we were a little bit apprehensive probably, running the first 6k of the year, again, against a quality field of teams and course."
On the first 6k for Cecilia Fisher, Katie Schwartzkopf and Kate Kowalik…
"I think they concentrated pretty well. I think just the course itself was more in their minds' eye than running in a 6k. So, they were probably a little passive because of the distance and some hills, but they did okay, they'll be able to improve quite a bit going forward."
FROM THE COURSE
Junior Kerby Depenbusch
On running his second meet this season…
"I felt much better today than I did two weeks ago at Arkansas. I'm starting to feel like myself again which is very promising after having knee surgery in the summer and going about 5 months without running. Overall, the team did well and we had some great performances today."
On preparing for the Big 12 Championships…
"We just need to focus on ourselves and what we can control. If we can continue to develop and do the little things right over the next couple weeks, we'll be in a good spot going into the Big 12 Championships."
MEN'S TEAM FINISHES (8K)
1. Montana State, 62 pts
2. Cal Baptist, 63 pts
3. Butler, 97 pts
4. Arkansas, 116 pts
5. UCLA, 186 pts
6. South Dakota St., 193 pts
7. Wyoming, 199 pts
8. Oklahoma State, 210 pts
9. Portland State, 258 pts
10. Southern Utah, 274 pts
11. Liberty, 307 pts
12. Washington St., 349 pts
13. Purdue, 366 pts
14. Pittsburgh, 402 pts
15. K-State, 403 pts
K-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (8K)
53. Stephen Kielhofner, 24:35.6
56. Hadley Splechter, 24:37.7
102. Jack Moore, 25:09.2
107. Kerby Depenbusch, 25:12.3
108. David Lutgen, 25:13.4
135. Matthew Hauser, 25:27.0
170. Jack Vincent, 25:48.0
179. Kyle Johnston, 25:54.9
202. Alex Gutierrez, 26:14.0
219. Carson McEachern, 26:46.1
WOMEN'S TEAM FINISHES (6K)
1. Cal Baptist, 50 pts
2. Oklahoma State, 76 pts
3. Wyoming, 142 pts
4. Liberty, 182 pts
5. Washington St., 250 pts
6. Southern Utah, 252 pts
7. Nebraska, 257 pts
8. Montana State, 268 pts
9. Weber State, 276 pts
10. Portland State, 282 pts
11. Missouri, 329 pts
12. UC Santa Barbara, 350 pts
13. Purdue, 350 pts
14. Butler, 358 pts
15. UCLA, 363 pts
16. Yale, 385 pts
17. Iowa, 417 pts
18. K-State, 457 pts
K-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (6K)
39. Hannah Stewart, 21:39.9
76. Cailan Steward, 22:06.0
97. Sydney Burton, 22:21.5
141. Cecilia Fisher, 22:55.0
165. Katie Kasunic, 23:20.8
191. Alexa Rios, 23:49.2
197. Helen Giefer, 24:02.9
202. Katie Schwartzkopf, 24:08.9
228. Kate Kowalik, 26:35.3
UP NEXT
K-State will compete in the first postseason race at the Big 12 Championships in Lubbock, Texas on Friday, October 28 at the Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course. Last season, the men's team finished 4th with 121 points and the women finished 5th with 143 points.
How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on the K-State Track and Field and Cross Country Teams, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
In a field full of ranked teams, the men finished 15th with 403 points in the 8k race, ahead of Missouri and Kansas, while the women placed 18th with 457 points in the 6k. No. 25 Montana State won the men's race with 62 points and No. 19 Cal Baptist took first in the women's race with 50 points, while host and nationally-ranked Oklahoma State saw its fourth-ranked men place eighth and its third-ranked women finish second.
The top three men's runners had a bit of a shake-up, senior Stephen Kielhofner (53rd; 24:35.6) and junior Hadley Splechter (56th; 24:37.7) kept to their same pace from previous meets with junior Jack Moore (102nd; 25:09.2) finishing right outside of the top-100.
In his second meet of the season and his first 8k, sophomore Alex Gutierrez (202nd; 26:14.0) ran a new 8k personal best, 17 seconds faster than his previous time set last season. Junior Kerby Depenbusch (107th; 25:12.3), in just his second meet, shaved 21 seconds off his time at the Chile Pepper Festival on Sept. 30.
Sophomore Matthew Hauser (135th; 25:27.0) jumped up in the lineup running a whole minute faster than his time at the Chile Pepper Festival. Freshman Carson McEachern (219th; 26:46.1) kept pace in just his second collegiate 8k finishing only 5 seconds back from his last 8k.
In the women's first 6k of the season, three Wildcats finished in the top-100, including juniors Hannah Stewart (39th; 21:39.9), Cailan Steward (76th; 22:06.0) and Sydney Burton (97th; 22:21.5).
Three women ran their first collegiate 6k, including freshmen Cecilia Fisher (141st; 22:55.0) and Katie Schwartzkopf (202nd; 24:08.9) and sophomore Kate Kowalik (228th; 26:35.3).
FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head Coach Randy Cole
On the competitive field of teams…
"The men were pretty steady in a real nice quality field of teams from across the country. They were moving up the whole race, each kilometer they were moving up in the team scores real well, they were finishing well, but they probably just being conservative put themselves back quite a bit. The women were okay, but we were a little bit apprehensive probably, running the first 6k of the year, again, against a quality field of teams and course."
On the first 6k for Cecilia Fisher, Katie Schwartzkopf and Kate Kowalik…
"I think they concentrated pretty well. I think just the course itself was more in their minds' eye than running in a 6k. So, they were probably a little passive because of the distance and some hills, but they did okay, they'll be able to improve quite a bit going forward."
FROM THE COURSE
Junior Kerby Depenbusch
On running his second meet this season…
"I felt much better today than I did two weeks ago at Arkansas. I'm starting to feel like myself again which is very promising after having knee surgery in the summer and going about 5 months without running. Overall, the team did well and we had some great performances today."
On preparing for the Big 12 Championships…
"We just need to focus on ourselves and what we can control. If we can continue to develop and do the little things right over the next couple weeks, we'll be in a good spot going into the Big 12 Championships."
MEN'S TEAM FINISHES (8K)
1. Montana State, 62 pts
2. Cal Baptist, 63 pts
3. Butler, 97 pts
4. Arkansas, 116 pts
5. UCLA, 186 pts
6. South Dakota St., 193 pts
7. Wyoming, 199 pts
8. Oklahoma State, 210 pts
9. Portland State, 258 pts
10. Southern Utah, 274 pts
11. Liberty, 307 pts
12. Washington St., 349 pts
13. Purdue, 366 pts
14. Pittsburgh, 402 pts
15. K-State, 403 pts
K-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (8K)
53. Stephen Kielhofner, 24:35.6
56. Hadley Splechter, 24:37.7
102. Jack Moore, 25:09.2
107. Kerby Depenbusch, 25:12.3
108. David Lutgen, 25:13.4
135. Matthew Hauser, 25:27.0
170. Jack Vincent, 25:48.0
179. Kyle Johnston, 25:54.9
202. Alex Gutierrez, 26:14.0
219. Carson McEachern, 26:46.1
WOMEN'S TEAM FINISHES (6K)
1. Cal Baptist, 50 pts
2. Oklahoma State, 76 pts
3. Wyoming, 142 pts
4. Liberty, 182 pts
5. Washington St., 250 pts
6. Southern Utah, 252 pts
7. Nebraska, 257 pts
8. Montana State, 268 pts
9. Weber State, 276 pts
10. Portland State, 282 pts
11. Missouri, 329 pts
12. UC Santa Barbara, 350 pts
13. Purdue, 350 pts
14. Butler, 358 pts
15. UCLA, 363 pts
16. Yale, 385 pts
17. Iowa, 417 pts
18. K-State, 457 pts
K-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (6K)
39. Hannah Stewart, 21:39.9
76. Cailan Steward, 22:06.0
97. Sydney Burton, 22:21.5
141. Cecilia Fisher, 22:55.0
165. Katie Kasunic, 23:20.8
191. Alexa Rios, 23:49.2
197. Helen Giefer, 24:02.9
202. Katie Schwartzkopf, 24:08.9
228. Kate Kowalik, 26:35.3
UP NEXT
K-State will compete in the first postseason race at the Big 12 Championships in Lubbock, Texas on Friday, October 28 at the Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course. Last season, the men's team finished 4th with 121 points and the women finished 5th with 143 points.
How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on the K-State Track and Field and Cross Country Teams, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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