Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, October 28
Lubbock, Texas
10 a.m. (W) / 11 a.m. (M)
Kansas State University
vs
Big 12 Championships
Cross Country Heads to Big 12 Championship Meet in Lubbock
Oct 25, 2022 | Cross Country
Last season both teams finished in the top five
The Kansas State men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the Big 12 Championships on Friday, October 28 at the Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course in Lubbock, Texas. The women's 6k will start at 10 a.m., CT with the men's 8k following at 11 a.m., CT. Both races will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
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Both K-State teams placed in top-5 at the 2021 Big 12 Championship meet with the men's team finishing fourth with 121 points and the women finishing fifth with 143 points. Oklahoma State won both titles with the men scoring 24 points and the women totaling 35 points.
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The Wildcats have recorded strong regular seasons with the women's team claiming two meet titles (the Bob Timmons Classic and Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational) and the men winning the title at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational.
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In the last meet at the Weis-Crockett Invitational (Oct. 15) the women ran their first 6k of the season where three Wildcats finished in the top-100, juniors Hannah Stewart (39th; 21:39.9), Cailan Steward (76th; 22:06.0) and Sydney Burton (97th; 22:21.5). Cecilia Fisher will be the only freshman to compete in the meet after she competed in her first 6k two weeks ago with a time of 22:55.0 at 141st place.
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For the men's team, 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 the top-100.
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Sophomore Alex Gutierrez ran a new 8k personal best at 26:14.0 finishing 202nd, 17 seconds faster than his previous time set last season.
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In the most recent USTFCCCA regional rankings released on Oct. 17, the men's team jumped up three spots sitting at No. 10 as the women dropped to No. 13. Big 12 schools in the Midwest Region include Oklahoma State at No. 1 for both men and women, Iowa State's men at No. 3 with the women not far behind at No. 4, Kansas' men at No. 13 and Oklahoma's women at No. 14. Host of the meet, Texas Tech, have their men ranked No. 14 in the Mountain Region.
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PREVIOUS BIG 12 MEETS
Last time the men's and women's teams had a top-15 finisher at Big 12 Championship was in 2020 with Cooper Schroeder, who finished 15th in the 8k at 23:54.6, and Jaybe Shufelberger, who took 9th at 21:22.6 in the 6k.
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The Wildcats' last won a championship title on October 31, 1998, when the women's team ran a 5k and finished with 78 points, leading former conference school Colorado at 99. Also, in 1998 head coach Randy Cole was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year.
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CONFERENCE COMPETITORS
This season K-State has competed against only three other conference schools during the regular season, Kansas in three out of four meets, Oklahoma in the Chile Pepper Festival (Sept. 30) and Oklahoma State in the Weis-Crocket Invitational (Oct. 15).
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Head Coach Randy Cole
On a smaller meet with 10 teams…
"You'll be able to see your opponents' better. You can see your teammates better in a smaller field of runners and then be able to see where you're at as a team against the other schools, so that's the advantage of that."
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On the expectations of the meet…
"Our thing is to try to place as high as possible. We'll probably be shorthanded on the women's side because Grace Meyer hurt her ankle and is out for the season. We'll still ask everybody to step up and contribute to the best of their ability and the guys I think will have an opportunity to do some good things."
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Sophomore Alex Gutierrez
On his personal improvement this season…
"I really can't complain when it comes to my improvement so far this season. After coming off a solid offseason of training and now doing a more distance focused training regimen, it felt good to finally be able to race an 8k. I have more of a mid-distance background so the training this year has definitely been an adjustment, but the results are paying off. I've had some injuries and illness that have kept me from racing so I'm just happy to have the opportunity to help out the team and hopefully get another personal best this weekend."
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On running in the Championship meet…
"It's always exciting to go against some good competition so I'll be looking to capitalize on that and really put forth a good performance. It's a strong lineup of teams but we've ran against them all before and we're ready to be as competitive as possible."
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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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Both K-State teams placed in top-5 at the 2021 Big 12 Championship meet with the men's team finishing fourth with 121 points and the women finishing fifth with 143 points. Oklahoma State won both titles with the men scoring 24 points and the women totaling 35 points.
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The Wildcats have recorded strong regular seasons with the women's team claiming two meet titles (the Bob Timmons Classic and Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational) and the men winning the title at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational.
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In the last meet at the Weis-Crockett Invitational (Oct. 15) the women ran their first 6k of the season where three Wildcats finished in the top-100, juniors Hannah Stewart (39th; 21:39.9), Cailan Steward (76th; 22:06.0) and Sydney Burton (97th; 22:21.5). Cecilia Fisher will be the only freshman to compete in the meet after she competed in her first 6k two weeks ago with a time of 22:55.0 at 141st place.
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For the men's team, 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 the top-100.
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Sophomore Alex Gutierrez ran a new 8k personal best at 26:14.0 finishing 202nd, 17 seconds faster than his previous time set last season.
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In the most recent USTFCCCA regional rankings released on Oct. 17, the men's team jumped up three spots sitting at No. 10 as the women dropped to No. 13. Big 12 schools in the Midwest Region include Oklahoma State at No. 1 for both men and women, Iowa State's men at No. 3 with the women not far behind at No. 4, Kansas' men at No. 13 and Oklahoma's women at No. 14. Host of the meet, Texas Tech, have their men ranked No. 14 in the Mountain Region.
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PREVIOUS BIG 12 MEETS
Last time the men's and women's teams had a top-15 finisher at Big 12 Championship was in 2020 with Cooper Schroeder, who finished 15th in the 8k at 23:54.6, and Jaybe Shufelberger, who took 9th at 21:22.6 in the 6k.
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The Wildcats' last won a championship title on October 31, 1998, when the women's team ran a 5k and finished with 78 points, leading former conference school Colorado at 99. Also, in 1998 head coach Randy Cole was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year.
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CONFERENCE COMPETITORS
This season K-State has competed against only three other conference schools during the regular season, Kansas in three out of four meets, Oklahoma in the Chile Pepper Festival (Sept. 30) and Oklahoma State in the Weis-Crocket Invitational (Oct. 15).
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Head Coach Randy Cole
On a smaller meet with 10 teams…
"You'll be able to see your opponents' better. You can see your teammates better in a smaller field of runners and then be able to see where you're at as a team against the other schools, so that's the advantage of that."
Â
On the expectations of the meet…
"Our thing is to try to place as high as possible. We'll probably be shorthanded on the women's side because Grace Meyer hurt her ankle and is out for the season. We'll still ask everybody to step up and contribute to the best of their ability and the guys I think will have an opportunity to do some good things."
Â
Sophomore Alex Gutierrez
On his personal improvement this season…
"I really can't complain when it comes to my improvement so far this season. After coming off a solid offseason of training and now doing a more distance focused training regimen, it felt good to finally be able to race an 8k. I have more of a mid-distance background so the training this year has definitely been an adjustment, but the results are paying off. I've had some injuries and illness that have kept me from racing so I'm just happy to have the opportunity to help out the team and hopefully get another personal best this weekend."
Â
On running in the Championship meet…
"It's always exciting to go against some good competition so I'll be looking to capitalize on that and really put forth a good performance. It's a strong lineup of teams but we've ran against them all before and we're ready to be as competitive as possible."
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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.
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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