MIAA Championships up next for Emporia State Cross Country

Men's Cross Country | 10/24/2024 11:48:00 AM

Emporia State Cross Country
at the MIAA Championships
Griffon Cross Country Course • St. Joseph, Mo.
Saturday, October 26 • Men's 8K at 10:00 a.m./Women's 6K at 11:00 a.m.
Live Results | Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: NCAA Division II Central Regional Championships
Saturday, November 9 • Men's 10K at 10:00 a.m./Women's 6K at 11:15 a.m.
Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course • Joplin, Mo.

CHAMPIONSHIP TIME
Emporia State begins the championship portion of the schedule at the MIAA Cross Country Championships on the Griffon Cross Country Course in St. Joseph, Mo. on Saturday. The men will be running ten kilometers starting at 10:00 a.m. with the women running six kilometers starting at 11:00 a.m.

LAST RUN
The Emporia State women placed second and the men third in their only home meet of the year, the ESU Invitational in Jones Park.
Mason Bina led the Hornet women with the tenth best collegiate mark and 11th place finish overall. On a hot afternoon she ran 20:10.91 to lead four Hornets in the top 20.  Diana Messick ran a season's best 20:31.56 to place 15th overall while Catherine Lyon turned in a time of 20:41.81 to finish one spot back in 16th place.  Madeline Martin was clocked in 21:04.33 to place 18th overall. As a team the Hornets scored 56 points to finish behind Fort Hays State who turned in a perfect score of 15 points.
In the men's race Treyton Laurance placed fourth in a time of 27:15.16 over the 8K to break up Fort Hays State try for a perfect score.  Dylan Hunter and Samuel McDavitt both finished in the top 20 for the Hornets.  Hunter ran 28:18.45 to place 15th while McDavitt ran 28:25.21 to finish in 16th place.  Fort Hays State won the meet with 18 points while Central Missouri finished second with 59 points and the Hornets came in third with 61 points.  
  
THE COACH
Justin Hill is in his first year as head cross country coach at Emporia State and will be in charge of the middle distance and distance runners for the Hornet track and field program.
Hill has been the director of operations and assistant cross country coach for the Hornets since 2021. He played an integral role in the recently completed NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships held at Welch Stadium and Witten Track.  He served as meet director for Emporia State's regular season home meets in addition to overseeing the operational aspects of the Hornet cross country and track and field programs for the last three years.

SCOUTING THE HORNETS
The Hornet men have had the three different runners lead them in their four races this season. Treyton Laurance had the top time over eight kilometers at the Greeno Dirksen and ESU Invitationals. Dylan Hunter paced the Hornets at the Gans Creek Classic eight kilometer run. Luke Gleason was the top runner for ESU at the six kilometer JK Gold Classic to start the year.  
Mason Bina has been the top finisher for the Emporia State women in all four races this year. Catherine Lyon was the second finisher at the JK Gold and Gans Creek while Emma Bartholome moved into the second spot at the Greeno-Dirksen Invitational and Diana Messick took the second spot at the ESU Invitational.

LAST TIME AT THE MIAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jamie Diaz earned All-MIAA status with the best finish by an Emporia State male runner since 1996 at the MIAA Cross Country Championships in Columbia, Mo. The men finished seventh overall while the Emporia State women were placed 11th as a team.
Diaz ran 24:20.26 over the eight kilometer Gans Creek Course to place fourth overall. It is the best finish for a Hornet at the MIAA Championships since Jurmain Mitchell won the title in 1996.  Henry Jones just missed a top 20 finish, running 25:11.35 to finish in 21st place. Asher Moen and Luke Gleason were bunched at 46th and 48th place for the Hornets. Moen ran 26:06.67 while Gleason was clocked in 26:08.10.  Tyler Swift finished in 72nd place with a time of 26:48.12 to round out the scoring for Emporia State.
Tayler Williams again led the Emporia State women, running 22:50.27 to place 26th on the six kilometer course.  Catherine Lyon was the second Hornet finisher, running 24:53.23 to place 71st overall.  The next three runners for the Hornets were in a tight pack finishing in 84-86th place.  Madeline Martin ran 26:22.78 to finish 84th, Elizabeth Willhite was close behind her at 26:27.96 to place 85th and Koe Schultz ran 26:33.90 to place 86th and complete the team scoring for Emporia State.

UP NEXT
Emporia State will travel to Joplin, Mo. for the NCAA Division II Central Regional Championships on November 9. 

HOW TOUGH IS IT?
The MIAA has five women's teams and three men's teams ranked in the USTFCCCA National Top 30. The MIAA and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) are the only leagues with at least three teams ranked in both the men's and women's polls.

HORNETS AT THE MIAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Emporia State has won seven MIAA Individual Championships since joining the association in 1991. That is the fourth most individual championships by a conference school in that time.  The Hornets join Missouri Southern nand Central Missouri as the only current MIAA schools with multiple MIAA champions for both the men and women since 1991.

PRESEASON POLLS
The Emporia State men were ranked seventh while the women were ranked 11th in the 2024 Cross Country Coaches Preseason Polls.
Pittsburg State collected seven first-place votes and 113 total points to rank first in the men's poll. The Gorillas captured the program's second MIAA cross country crown at the 2023 championship and went on to place 11th at the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship. Northwest Missouri was picked second in the preseason poll with 110 points and four first-place votes. The Bearcats placed 24th at the 2023 national championship. Washburn was selected third in the poll with 93 points.  Missouri Southern tabbed the remaining first place vote and 91 points for the #4 spot in the poll while Nebraska Kearney concluded the coaches' top five with 86 points. Central Missouri was picked #6, followed by Emporia State at #7, Fort Hays State at #8, Missouri Western at #9 and Newman at #10. Rogers State and Arkansas-Fort Smith concluded the poll in 11th and 12th, respectively.
Pittsburg State collected the major first-place votes with 11 and totaled 143 points from MIAA head coaches in the 2024 women's cross country preseason coaches poll. The Gorillas captured the 2023 MIAA championship and went on to place 18th at the NCAA Division II women's national championship. Missouri Southern was picked second in the poll with 128 points. The Lions are the defending MIAA runners-up and placed 28th at the 2023 national championship. Fort Hays State was picked third with 114 points while Nebraska Kearney finished fourth with 108 points and Rogers State fifth with 99 points. Both the Lopers and the Hillcats tabbed a first-place selection in the poll.
Northwest Missouri was picked #6 with 87 points while Missouri Western and Washburn tied for the seventh spot with 76 points each. Central Missouri was picked #9, followed by Newman at #10, Emporia State at #11 and Arkansas-Fort Smith was tabbed #12 for their first season in the MIAA. Central Oklahoma concluded the poll at #13.