Blue Dragon cross country teams sweep conference championships

By Tatum James
Staff writer
Email: thehutchinsoncollegian@gmail.com

The Hutchinson Community College men’s and women’s cross country teams headed home with the first-place plaques after they won the KJCCC championships at Winfield.

The Blue Dragon women took home their third KJCCC championshipand the Blue Dragon men took home their eighth all-time championship.

The Blue Dragon men swept both Region 6 and Jayhawk West team championships. Dennis Cheruiyot, Cornelius Kogo, Titus Kiprotich and Farrin Mangelson helped their team immensely with their top 10 finishes. Two other Blue Dragons finished in the top 20.

The Blue Dragon women couldn’t have won the KJCCC without Faith Jepchirchir and Jordyn Picolet’s top 10 finishes and Abigail Grantham and Ava Lemaster’s top 20 finishes. Picolet won herself the third fastest time in the 5,000 meter in Blue Dragon history.

Cheruiyot became the new Blue Dragon individual record holder in the 8,000 meters with a Region 6 runner-up finish and KJCCC title performance with a time of 23 minutes, 46.77 seconds.

Jepchirchir becomes the third Blue Dragon women’s cross country runner to win for the Region 6 individual championship. Jepchirchir broke the former Blue Dragon Serenity Larson’s Region 6 record time in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:08.43. So far, this is her third win with the fact that she won the Terry Masterson Classic and the Region 6 preview.

Both Blue Dragon men and women will compete in the NJCAA Division I cross country championships on Nov. 9 in Richmond, Va.

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