COURTESY OF HUTCHINSON ATHLETICS (10/5/2026)
NEW ORLEANS – A fifth-place finish behind only four of the top NCAA runners in the nation has led to Hutchinson Community College men’s cross country runner Letsepa Prince Madume being named the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division 1 National Athlete of the Week on Monday, October 5th.
The race for Madume came following more than a month off from competition, running a time of 24:13.00 to be the top-finishing NJCAA runner in either of the two men’s collegiate races that were contested at the Chile Pepper Festival. Madume, who won the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic in August, once again led the Blue Dragons on Saturday by making a key late move to pass a pair of University of Texas runners to place fifth and help the Blue Dragons finish ninth overall in the team standings in his first collegiate 8,000-meter event.
This is the sixth time that a male athlete from Hutchinson has been named USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week in cross country. Madume joined Titus Kiprotich (2025), Teagan Flanagan (2020) and Andrew Kibet (three times in 2018) in that selective group. The award is also the second time that a KJCCC men’s cross country runner has earned USTFCCCA National honors in 2026, with Madume joining Dodge City’s Josue Vega, who earned the honors on September 14th.
