FHSU Athletics

A native of Hill City, Kansas, JP Worcester competed for the Fort Hays State cross country and track and field teams from 1979-1982. He was a four-time All-America performer overall, which included three times in track and field and once in cross country. In 1980, he earned All-America status in cross country with a 13^th-place finish nationally as an individual, while helping the team to a fourth-place finish at the NAIA Championships. For track and field, he placed sixth nationally in the steeplechase in 1981, sixth nationally in the indoor 2-mile run in 1982, and then third nationally in the marathon in 1982 to cap his career at FHSU. He set the FHSU marathon record at 2:22.27 during his final year, which still stands today. He was an eight-time all-conference performer and three-time all-district performer between the two sports. Worcester was a four-time conference champion individually, twice in the steeplechase and once in the 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs. He helped Fort Hays State to a pair of conference titles in cross country and one conference title in track and field. He was a three-time national qualifier in cross country and six-time national qualifier in track and field. Following his time at FHSU, Worcester went on to win the 1992 Dallas White Rock marathon and he still holds the Kansas state record in the marathon for age groups 40-44 and 45-49.