By Hutchinson CC Sports Information
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (BlueDragonSports.com) – Running against some of the top teams at the NCAA Division I level, the NJCAA No. 9-ranked Hutchinson Community College men’s cross country team posted a team Top 10 finish on Saturday at the University of Arkansas Chili Pepper Festival.
Dennis Cheruiyot, Cornelius Kogo and Titus Kiprotich ran times in the Blue Dragon all-time Top 10 at 8,000 meters to lead the Blue Dragons to an eighth-place team performance on Saturday.
Arkansas won the men’s team title with 29 points. Western Colorado was second with 127 points. The Blue Dragons were the second-highest NJCAA team in the team standings, scoring 259 points to finish eighth. Only Butler placed higher than the Dragons. The Grizzlies were seventh with 207 points.
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Hutchinson’s solid performance helped the Blue Dragons finish better than NJCAA No. 3 Iowa Central and No. 6 Crowder College. The Dragons also finished ahead of NCAA Division I power LSU. The Tigers placed ninth.
The Dragons posted a team time average of 25:09.54 on Saturday.
Running his first 8K race as a Blue Dragon, Cheruiyot led Hutchinson with a 14th-place performance – second among NJCAA runners – in a time of 24:22.9. That time is the fifth-fastest time by a Blue Dragon at 8,000 meters in program history.
Kogo placed 17th at the Chili Pepper. His time of 24:29.2 was third best among NJCAA runners and the sixth fastest 8K time in Blue Dragon history.
Kiprotich placed 33rd on Saturday with the 10th-fastest 8K time in team history of 24:54.9.
Farin Mangelson was the only other Blue Dragon to place in the Chili Pepper Top 100, placing 98th in a time of 25:48.1.
The remaining Blue Dragon runners finished:
+ Thaddaeus Rotich placed 128th in 26:13.0;
+ Kaden Lohrentz placed 141st in 26:26.1;
+ David Ultreras placed 159th in 26:52.4;
+ Leo LeGrand placed 219th in 28:04.5;
+ Blake Yoder placed 258th in 30:39.5.
The Blue Dragons will next run at the Cowley Invitational on October 12 in Winfield.
