Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, October 28
Lubbock, Texas
10 a.m. (W) / 11 a.m. (M)
Kansas State University
vs
Big 12 Championships
K-State Men Finish in Top 4 at Big 12 Championships, Women Finish 7th
Oct 28, 2022 | Cross Country
The Wildcats will be back on the course on Nov. 11 in Columbia, Mo. for the NCAA Midwest Regionals
The K-State men's and women's cross country teams competed against a stacked field at the Big 12 Championships on Friday morning (October 28) at Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course in Lubbock, Texas.
The men's team finished fourth in the 8k with 123 points, as No. 4 Oklahoma State won with just 21 points followed by Iowa State in second place with 57 points and No. 23 Texas in third place with 59 points. It marked the fourth time in the last 6 seasons that the K-State men have placed fourth, including the third consecutive season.
The women's team finished seventh in the 6k with 197 points, placing ahead of Kansas and host of the meet Texas Tech. No. 3 Oklahoma State won the title with 22 points followed by No. 28 West Virginia in second with 49 points.
Senior Stephen Kielhofner (16th, 24:44.2) once again led the Wildcat men at the top of the leader board in the top-20, as he narrowly missed All-Big 12 honors. He was followed by juniors Hadley Splechter (21st, 24:54.9) and Jack Moore (29th, 25:23.6), who each finished among the top-30.
Three more men finished inside the top-40; junior David Lutgen (35th, 25:43.0), sophomore Kyle Johnston (39th, 25:46.3), who finished 12 seconds faster than his time in the Weis-Crockett Invitational (Oct. 15), and junior Kerby Depenbusch (40th, 25:49.2).
Sophomores Tommy Hazen (47th, 26:12.3) and Mike Rohlinger (67th, 27:04.8) competed for the first time in almost a month after not racing in the last meet of the regular season.
Junior Hannah Stewart (23rd, 21:52.4) led the Wildcat women with a top-25 finish followed by junior Cailan Steward (41st, 22:29.5), freshman Cecilia Fisher (42nd, 22:31.3) and junior Sydney Burton (43rd, 22:36.9) among the top-50. Fisher ran her new personal best in just her second 6k of the season, shaving 24 seconds off her time.
Out of five meets this season junior Katie Kasunic (67th, 23:47.3) placed her second best since the Bob Timmons Classic (Sept. 3) where she finished 14th.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head Coach Randy Cole
On the conditions of the race…
"They had pretty good rain last night and sprinkling on and off during the meet here. The storm made the conditions pretty muddy and a lot of standing water, made for a kind of slick course, probably slowed down the times a bit. Had some 20-30 miles per hour winds so it was a blustering morning, but that's cross country."
On the men's team performance…
"They placed a very solid fourth place, I thought they competed very well. Guys got up in the race the first two miles and then really hung tough in the middle part and really competed well over the last stretch of the race. We had some good efforts up and down the lineup, Stephen missed All-Big 12 by two tenths of a second. Obviously, a quality league."
On the women's team performance…
"They weren't clicking on all cylinders, so we only placed seventh. I thought we might realistically, with the lineup we had, maybe get, you know, fifth, sixth, seventh in that range, so we didn't really click too well."
FROM THE COURSE
Senior Stephen Kielhofner
On the men's 4th place finish…
"Going into Big 12 we really hoped to maybe take down one of the big dogs in the top three (Iowa State or Texas). They were too tough to beat. But we made sure to at least secure 4th and beat KU for the third year in a row. Every one of our guys put it all out there today and I think we're happy with how things ended. Shoutout to Jack Moore for hopping in the front of the race with me around the 2 mile mark."
On his personal performance…
"As a personal goal and to help the team I wanted to get All-Big 12 (top 15 individually). I fell 0.2 seconds behind 15th and just got edged out. But 16th is the best I've ever done at Big 12 and it's nice to know I made some moves in the race that put me in a good position. The times were not fast today with a very muddy course and 18 mph winds. And times don't matter anyways at conference, only place."
WOMEN'S TEAM FINISHES (6K)
1. Oklahoma State, 22
2. West Virginia, 49
3. Iowa State, 64
4. Texas, 130
5. Oklahoma, 145
6. Baylor, 180
7. K-State, 197
8. Kansas, 219
9. Texas Tech, 239
10. Texas Christian, 246
K-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (6K)
23. Hannah Stewart, 21:52.4
41. Cailan Steward, 22:29.5
42. Cecilia Fisher, 22:31.3
43. Sydney Burton, 22:36.9
67. Katie Kasunic, 23:47.3
71. Alexa Rios, 24:08.9
79. Helen Giefer, 25:02.0
MEN'S TEAM FINISHES (8K)
1. Oklahoma State, 21
2. Iowa State, 57
3. Texas, 59
4. K-State, 123
5. Kansas, 159
6. Texas Tech, 181
7. Baylor, 195
8. Oklahoma, 220
9. Texas Christian, 263
K-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (8K)
16. Stephen Kielhofner, 24:44.2
21. Hadley Splechter, 24:54.9
29. Jack Moore, 25:23.6
35. David Lutgen, 25:43.0
39. Kyle Johnston, 25:46.3
40. Kerby Depenbusch, 25:49.2
47. Tommy Hazen, 26:12.3
58. Jack Vincent, 26:38.6
63. Alex Gutierrez, 26:55.1
67. Mike Rohlinger, 27:04.8
UP NEXT
K-State will compete in the NCAA Midwest Regionals in Columbia, Mo. on Friday, November 11 at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course. Last season the women landed in the top-10 at No. 6 with 243 points while the men's team finished 11th out of 28 teams with 332 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.
The men's team finished fourth in the 8k with 123 points, as No. 4 Oklahoma State won with just 21 points followed by Iowa State in second place with 57 points and No. 23 Texas in third place with 59 points. It marked the fourth time in the last 6 seasons that the K-State men have placed fourth, including the third consecutive season.
The women's team finished seventh in the 6k with 197 points, placing ahead of Kansas and host of the meet Texas Tech. No. 3 Oklahoma State won the title with 22 points followed by No. 28 West Virginia in second with 49 points.
Senior Stephen Kielhofner (16th, 24:44.2) once again led the Wildcat men at the top of the leader board in the top-20, as he narrowly missed All-Big 12 honors. He was followed by juniors Hadley Splechter (21st, 24:54.9) and Jack Moore (29th, 25:23.6), who each finished among the top-30.
Three more men finished inside the top-40; junior David Lutgen (35th, 25:43.0), sophomore Kyle Johnston (39th, 25:46.3), who finished 12 seconds faster than his time in the Weis-Crockett Invitational (Oct. 15), and junior Kerby Depenbusch (40th, 25:49.2).
Sophomores Tommy Hazen (47th, 26:12.3) and Mike Rohlinger (67th, 27:04.8) competed for the first time in almost a month after not racing in the last meet of the regular season.
Junior Hannah Stewart (23rd, 21:52.4) led the Wildcat women with a top-25 finish followed by junior Cailan Steward (41st, 22:29.5), freshman Cecilia Fisher (42nd, 22:31.3) and junior Sydney Burton (43rd, 22:36.9) among the top-50. Fisher ran her new personal best in just her second 6k of the season, shaving 24 seconds off her time.
Out of five meets this season junior Katie Kasunic (67th, 23:47.3) placed her second best since the Bob Timmons Classic (Sept. 3) where she finished 14th.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head Coach Randy Cole
On the conditions of the race…
"They had pretty good rain last night and sprinkling on and off during the meet here. The storm made the conditions pretty muddy and a lot of standing water, made for a kind of slick course, probably slowed down the times a bit. Had some 20-30 miles per hour winds so it was a blustering morning, but that's cross country."
On the men's team performance…
"They placed a very solid fourth place, I thought they competed very well. Guys got up in the race the first two miles and then really hung tough in the middle part and really competed well over the last stretch of the race. We had some good efforts up and down the lineup, Stephen missed All-Big 12 by two tenths of a second. Obviously, a quality league."
On the women's team performance…
"They weren't clicking on all cylinders, so we only placed seventh. I thought we might realistically, with the lineup we had, maybe get, you know, fifth, sixth, seventh in that range, so we didn't really click too well."
FROM THE COURSE
Senior Stephen Kielhofner
On the men's 4th place finish…
"Going into Big 12 we really hoped to maybe take down one of the big dogs in the top three (Iowa State or Texas). They were too tough to beat. But we made sure to at least secure 4th and beat KU for the third year in a row. Every one of our guys put it all out there today and I think we're happy with how things ended. Shoutout to Jack Moore for hopping in the front of the race with me around the 2 mile mark."
On his personal performance…
"As a personal goal and to help the team I wanted to get All-Big 12 (top 15 individually). I fell 0.2 seconds behind 15th and just got edged out. But 16th is the best I've ever done at Big 12 and it's nice to know I made some moves in the race that put me in a good position. The times were not fast today with a very muddy course and 18 mph winds. And times don't matter anyways at conference, only place."
WOMEN'S TEAM FINISHES (6K)
1. Oklahoma State, 22
2. West Virginia, 49
3. Iowa State, 64
4. Texas, 130
5. Oklahoma, 145
6. Baylor, 180
7. K-State, 197
8. Kansas, 219
9. Texas Tech, 239
10. Texas Christian, 246
K-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (6K)
23. Hannah Stewart, 21:52.4
41. Cailan Steward, 22:29.5
42. Cecilia Fisher, 22:31.3
43. Sydney Burton, 22:36.9
67. Katie Kasunic, 23:47.3
71. Alexa Rios, 24:08.9
79. Helen Giefer, 25:02.0
MEN'S TEAM FINISHES (8K)
1. Oklahoma State, 21
2. Iowa State, 57
3. Texas, 59
4. K-State, 123
5. Kansas, 159
6. Texas Tech, 181
7. Baylor, 195
8. Oklahoma, 220
9. Texas Christian, 263
K-STATE'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (8K)
16. Stephen Kielhofner, 24:44.2
21. Hadley Splechter, 24:54.9
29. Jack Moore, 25:23.6
35. David Lutgen, 25:43.0
39. Kyle Johnston, 25:46.3
40. Kerby Depenbusch, 25:49.2
47. Tommy Hazen, 26:12.3
58. Jack Vincent, 26:38.6
63. Alex Gutierrez, 26:55.1
67. Mike Rohlinger, 27:04.8
UP NEXT
K-State will compete in the NCAA Midwest Regionals in Columbia, Mo. on Friday, November 11 at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course. Last season the women landed in the top-10 at No. 6 with 243 points while the men's team finished 11th out of 28 teams with 332 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.
K-State XC | Pre-National Invitational Recap
Saturday, October 18
K-State XC | Coach Bucknam Post-Race Thoughts
Friday, October 17
K-State XC | Joe Piane Invitational Recap
Saturday, October 04
K-State CC | Notre Dame Invitational Post Meet Interviews - Jackson Esquibel
Friday, October 03