Sports roundup: Blue Dragon cross country has solid performance in Iola

By Adam Kolb / Co-Sports Editor

Top-five performances by Louise Cocking and Sheila Too had the No. 6- ranked women’s Hutchinson Community College women’s cross country team on the brink of a Red Devil Invitational championship on Saturday at Allen Community College in Iola.

No. 8 Dodge City edged the Blue Dragons by a single point, 58-59, for the team title on Saturday. The second-place finish was the highest team finish by the HutchCC women since the 2019 Fort Hays State Tiger Invitational.

Cocking and Too finished with their best times of their careers in Iola, and the Blue Dragons also placed four runners in the yop 20, the second time in three races that has happened this season.

Cocking was the runner-up at the Red Devil Classic, finishing with a time of 20 minutes, 2.61 seconds. Too placed fourth overall, her first career top five finish. She ran a time of 20:15.99. Freshman Izzy Wheeler was the third runner to finish for the Blue Dragons, posting a time of 21:19.86., which was good for 17th place. Sophomore Megan Miller finished 18th, with a time of 21:31.14.

The Blue Dragons will have a six-day break before their next competition, the Bethel College Invitational at 5 p.m. next Friday in North Newton.

Men’s cross country – Hutchinson Community College sophomore Teagan Flanagan wasn’t going to be denied on Saturday at the Red Devil Invitational. Flanagan led a group of four Hutchinson top 20 finishers, two in the top 10, and helped the No. 2-ranked Blue Dragons to a second straight team runner-up finish this season. Running his first 8,000-meter race of the season, Flanagan took charge and defeated Fort Scott’s Gudisa Adnow by 22.78 seconds. He finished with a time of 25:07.0, the 11th fastest 8K time in Blue Dragon history.

Running his first career 8K race, sophomore Andrew Holt also produced a strong result for the Blue Dragons for a second-straight week with a ninth-place finish of 27:05.44. Sophomore Jacob Mcelhanon finished 14th for Hutchinson with a time of 27:16.09, and sophomore Matthew Schrag was 18th, finishing in 27:47.99.

Hutchinson has a short week before competing in the Bethel Invitational on Friday at Bethel College in North Newton.

Golf – The first tournament of the 2020 season turned out to be a record-breaking performance for the Hutchinson Community College men’s golf team.

The Blue Dragons set records for a single round and 54-hole total on a Par-72 course on Tuesday, and tied for third place at the CSU-Pueblo Farmers’ Insurance Samuel Proal Invitational at Walking Stick Golf Course.

The Blue Dragons finished with a team score of 9-under par 279, and were led by freshman Trey McCrae, who shot a career-low round of 68. With rounds on Monday and Tuesday of 283, 285 and 279, the Blue Dragons also posted a 54-hole team record of 847 (17-under par).

Freshman Ben Partridge shot a 69, sophomore Charlie Crockett ended with a score of 70, and freshman Harry Crockett finished with 72 in their final round on Tuesday.

The team also finished with three in the top 10 – Partridge who finished in sixth, and Charlie Crockett and McCrae, who tied for seventh. Harry Crockett tied for 21st with a score of 215, and Cameron Rios-Ceballos had a strong comeback on Tuesday, tying for 55th at 228.

The Blue Dragons will compete again next Monday and Tuesday at the Midwestern State Invitational in Wichita Falls, Texas.

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