Roundup: Blue Dragon women with thrilling win

Photo by Bre Rogers/Collegian: Blue Dragon players celebrating a three pointer in a game at the Sports Arena

By Adam Kolb / Co-Sports Editor

The Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team pulled into a first-place tie in the Jayhawk West Saturday night with a thrilling victory at Seward County in a battle of nationally-ranked teams.

Abby Ogle scored with 2.7 seconds to play in regulation and Seward County wasn’t able to get a final shot off as the No. 8-ranked Blue Dragons defeated the No. 12-ranked Saints 72-70. The win snapped a four-game losing streak to the Saints and Seward’s 61-game home-court winning streak.

Ogle led the Blue Dragons with 20 points on 9 of 14 shooting and six rebounds. Makayla Vannett finished with 17 points and hit four of nine from three-point range. Nafatoumata Haidara came off the bench and had a huge third quarter, scoring nine of her 10 points in the third period.

The Blue Dragons improve to 21-2 overall and will play its next game on Wednesday against Northwest Tech.

Men’s basketball – The men’s basketball team earned a much-needed win Saturday at Seward County, reversing a recent trend of late-game setbacks.

The Blue Dragons rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half, getting a go-ahead Josh Baker 3-pointer with 1 minute, 19 seconds to play and held on for a 68-67 victory over the Saints at the Green House.

Baker led the Blue Dragons with 19 points, hitting 3 of 6 from 3-point range. He also had seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. D.J. ended the game in double figures with 13 pints to go with seven rebounds and two assists. Clarence King had a big game as well, ending with a career-high 14 points scoring nine in the second half. Saquan Singleton, Tyler Brown, and Majok Kuath all had six points each.

Hutchinson snaps a two-game losing streak and improves to 17-6 overall and 8-6 in the Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragons will Northwest Tech on Wednesday.

Men’s track and field – Sophomore Andrew Kibet and fellow sophomore Sylvestre Kibarar went into the indoor track and field record books on Saturday at the Pittsburg State Invitational.

Kibarar started the day off with a Blue Dragon record in the indoor 5,000 meters. He finished fourth in the event with a school-record time of 14 minutes, 52.32 seconds.

Kibet later joined in with a record-breaking performance in the mile. He finished with a time of 4:08.80. This was Kibet’s third school record in as many weeks in as many events. Kibet has also broken the 600- and 800-meter records this season.

Also qualifying for nationals in the mile was Brett Hillabrand, who finished 12th at PSU with a time of 4:22.70. The Blue Dragons will next compete at the Mule Relays on Saturday in Warrensburg, Mo

Women’s track and field – Sophomore middle-distance runner Gabby Collins and sophomore distance runner Sheila Too both posted personal bests to lead the Hutchinson Community College women’s track and field team at the Pittsburg State Invitational on Saturday at the Plaster Center.

Collins ran a PR in the 800 meters, running a time of 2:24.40. That mark is just .01 second off the national qualifying mark for the NJCAA.

Collins also helped the Blue Dragon Distance Medley Relay run the seventh fastest time in the nation this season.

Too posted the second-fastest indoor 5,000-meter time in school history on Saturday with a time of 19:16.78, which is a personal record for Too.

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