K-State Ready for Midwest Regional Competition

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The K-State men's and women's cross country teams travel to Stillwater, Okla., for the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday (Nov. 10) at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course.

The women's 6k will start at 10:30 a.m., CT with the men's 10k at 11:30 a.m., CT. Admission is free to the public.

K-State will send seven men and seven women to run. For the men's team-- senior Kerby Depenbusch and juniors Will Carroll, Alex Gutierrez, Matthew Hauser, Tommy Hazen, Kyle Johnston and Jack Vincent. This will be the men's first 10k of the season and the first for Carroll, Gutierrez and Vincent.

The women competing are seniors Sydney Burton, Aubry Donley, Cailan Steward and Hannah Stewart, sophomores Grace Meyer and Cecilia Fisher and freshman Josephine Wanjiku.

The Midwest Regionals will be the last opportunity for teams and individuals to advance to the NCAA Championship, set for Saturday, Nov. 18, at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Va. With nine regional meets across the country, the top two teams automatically qualify with the NCAA subcommittee then selecting 13 more at-large teams. The top-four individuals who place in the top-25 and do not belong to the automatic qualifying teams or at-large teams will also be selected.

In the latest USTFCCCA rankings released on Oct. 30, two Big 12 schools claimed the top-two spots, host Oklahoma State and Iowa State, as no. 1 and no. 2, respectively, in both the men's and women's rankings. The rest of the women's top-five include Northwestern, Nebraska and Illinois, and for the men, Loyola-Chicago, Tulsa and Drake. The K-State women's team stayed at no. 7.

Other competing schools include Big 12 familiars Kansas and Oklahoma along with Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wichita State and more.

This is K-State's first time racing in Stillwater this season, last year the team competed in the Weis-Crockett Invitational.

During the last meet at the Big 12 Championship, the women's team finished in fifth place with 185 points, the men's team in ninth with 266 points. Stewart ran a new 6k personal best in 20:43.7, no. 8 on the K-State all-time list, finishing 30^th. Hauser led the men's team in 47^th place with a new 8k time of 24:28.8, on the 8k all-time list at no. 16.

Last season at the Midwest Regional, the men placed 11^th with 322 points, the women in 18^th with 497 points. Stephen Kielhofner highlighted the Wildcats' performance by earning All-Region honors with a 22^nd place finish in a time of 30:06.6, which is no. 3 in the 10k K-State all-time list.

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 X (formerly Twitter, Threads, Facebook and Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Burton

Will Carroll

Kerby Depenbusch

Aubry Donley

Cecilia Fisher

Alex Gutierrez

Matthew Hauser

Tommy Hazen

Kyle Johnston

Stephen Kielhofner

Grace Meyer

Cailan Steward

Hannah Stewart

Jack Vincent

Josphine Wanjiku

Kansas State University Athletics