SAINT LEO, Fla. - Fort Hays State senior runner Robbie Schmidt placed 62nd at the 2021 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships Saturday morning at The Abbey Course at Saint Leo University.
It was Schmidt's second appearance at the cross country national meet, improving his finish by 63 spots after leading the Tigers with a 125th-place finish in 2019.
Schmidt completed the 10-kilometer race in 32:01.7. He found himself in a large pack of the 257 total runners early on, sitting in 120th place at the 1,300-meter mark. But the veteran runner worked his way through the crowd the rest of the way, moving into the top 100 by the 3K mark and up to 81st by the midway point before passing 19 more runners over the final 5,000 meters.
He finished fourth among MIAA competition and eighth against central region opponents.
Grand Valley State took home the team championship after a pair of Lakers finished 1-2 in the race, including individual champ Isaac Harding (29:58.3).