By Hutchinson CC Sports Information
COFFEYVILLE, Kan. (BlueDragonSports.com) – The Kentucky Derby was ran on Saturday, the first leg of horse racing’s triple crown.
The Hutchinson Community College men’s track and field team completed a triple crown on Saturday. The Blue Dragon men won the Region 6 cross country championship in November and then won the Region 6 indoor track and field title in February.
On Saturday at Coffeyville’s Veterans Memorial Stadium, the Blue Dragons finished off the Region 6 Triple Crown with a team victory in the Region 6 Outdoor Championship – clinching Saturday’s title with a school-record performance in the 4×400 Relay.
The Blue Dragons won their first regional championship since 2013 with 135 points. Barton was second with 127 points. The Dragons trailed by nine points with two events to go, but scored 12 points in the men’s 5,000 meters with a runner-up finish by Titus Kiprotich and fifth-place showing from Farrin Mangelson.
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With a three-point lead entering the final event, the 4×400-meter relay, the Blue Dragon relay of Da’Shawn Lester, Ryckyle Telemaque, D’Antonio Warren and David Thid placed second behind Coffeyville, but broke the Blue Dragon school record with a time of 3:09.52 to clinch the team title. Barton placed sixth in the relay.
Also winning the Jayhawk West title with 185.5 points, the Blue Dragons captured four individual Region 6 championships and scored in 21 of 22 events with multiple scorers in five events.
Sprinter Kebba Makalo won the 100 meters with a school-record time of 10.06 seconds. That mark is No. 2 in the NJCAA this season.
Leo LeGrand then won the 800 meters with a time of 1:53.39.
Then defending national champion David Thid made it three-straight Blue Dragon wins on the track with a dominant victory in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.91 seconds.
The day started with sophomore Ty’Rique Roland winning the high jump with a height of 6 feet, 9 1/2 inches (2.07 meters. Roland was the Region 6 runner-up in 2024.
Kiprotich completed a 17.5-point meet with a runner-up finish in the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:01.27. Mangelson was fifth in a time of 15:06.34.
Other Blue Dragon performances on Saturday:
+ Cornelius Kogo placed third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:23.51, the fifth-best steeplechase time in Blue Dragon history.
+ Warren placed third in the 200 meters with a time of 21.32 seconds.
+ The Blue Dragon 4×100 relay team of Warren, Giovanni Jones, Telemaque and Makalo was third with a national qualifying time of 40.54 seconds, the third-best time in Blue Dragon history.
+ Lester won the Jayhawk West championship and was third in the region in the 400 meters with a time of 47.54 seconds. Telemaque placed sixth in the 400 with a time of 48.45.
+ Jayce Spencer placed third and won the Jayhawk West crown in the pole vault with a time of 13-11 3/4 (4.26 meters).
+ Malique Parkinson took fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 45-10 1/2 (13.98 meters)
+ The Dragons scored six points in the shot put with Grady Bare placing fifth at 48-2 (14.68 meters) and Karson Engelland placing seventh at 46-6 1/4 (14.18).
+ Taylor Zehr was sixth in the hammer throw with a throw of 155-4 (47.35 meters).
The Blue Dragons next compete at the NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 15-17 at Gowans Stadium.
