Track team competes at Nationals

By Angela Lingg

The HCC track team competed at the NJCAA National track meet on March 4-5, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The only athletes to compete were athletes who had met the qualifying marks at meets earlier in the season.

Three HCC athletes made all-American by placing in the top eight at nationals.

Stein Desir’s 600 meter qualifying time broke the school record with a time of 1 minute 21.15 seconds.

Desir, of Palm Beach, Florida, ran just 0.5 seconds slower in the finals and finished fourth overall.

Malik Jackson, Topeka, finished in sixth-place in the men’s heptathlon.

He earned 4,401 points. Jackson’s teammate, Weston Riner, Pratt, finished fourteenth in the men’s heptathlon with 4,297 points.

The final athlete to make the podium was Junior Joseph, Wichita.

Joseph threw 58 feet 1.5 inches in the men’s weight throw and finished in seventh place.

The women’s distance medley relay, composed of Lean Nelson, Wellington, Madison Pollock, Winfield, Keagan Davis, Wichita, and Shaquellra Collins, Houston, Texas, finished in 13th place.

Alex Keller, Buhler, finished in 14th place in the women’s triple jump with a personal best of 35 feet 6.5 inches.

The Blue Dragons traveled by bus to the meet.

The HCC men and women’s track team will open their outdoor season on Thursday, March 10, at Southwestern University, in Winfield.

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