By Hutchinson CC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (BlueDragonSports.com) – Hutchinson Community College freshman cross country runner Faith Jepchirchir had quite a Blue Dragon debut on Friday night, doing so on her home course at the Fun Valley Sports Complex.
Jepchirchir became the first Blue Dragon women’s runner to win the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic.
Posting the top Blue Dragon time in event history of 18:17.00, the ninth-fastest time overall in Masterson history, Jepchirchir won the race by 16.5 seconds over second-place runner Elizabeth Hernandez of Butler. Jepchirchir dominated the final mile of the three-mile race.
CLICK FOR COMPLETE TERRY MASTERSON TWILIGHT CLASSIC RESULTS
The previous best individual Blue Dragon finish in the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic was second by Lisayo Ewoi in 2018. The previous fastest time was by Serenity Larson in 2022 of 18:21.92.
Jepchirchir and sophomores Jordyn Picolet and Abigail Grantham were top 15 finishers and led the Blue Dragons to a team runner-up finish at the 2024 Masterson Twilight Classic, their fifth Top 3 team finish in Masterson history.
Wichita State won the team championship with all five scoring runners finishing within the top 15. The Shockers had 42 team points to the Blue Dragons’ 62. Butler was third with 74.
Both Picolet and Grantham made huge improvements over their freshman Masterson performances to help lead the Blue Dragons
Picolet placed sixth overall with a time of 18:43.50. That mark was an improvement of 2 minutes, 8.31 seconds over her freshman season.
Grantham posted a time of 19:47.70 to place 14th individually. Grantham’s time improved by 1 minutes, 29.2 seconds over her time last year.
Other Blue Dragons to figure into the team scoring were freshman Ava Lemaster and sophomore Laura Avila. Lemaster placed 19th in 20:10.9. Avila was 23rd in 20:33.9.
The Blue Dragons will next compete at the Arkansas Chili Pepper Festival on September 28 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
