[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]
[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Community College women’s track team didn’t pick up any new national qualifiers on Saturday, but several athletes moved up historical Blue Dragon performance charts.
The Blue Dragons were split between the Gorilla Classic at the Plaster Center in Pittsburg and the Scottie Classic at the Walter’s Wellness Center in Highland.
At Pittsburg, sophomore Jewel Bolden, who ran 8.99 seconds on Friday in qualifying for the 60-meter hurdles, lowered that time on Saturday in the preliminaries with a time of 8.97 seconds. She didn’t qualify for the finals, but her time was the second-fastest in Blue Dragon indoor history.
Freshman Gabby Collins ran a time of 2 minutes, 27.31 seconds in the Gorilla Classic 800 meters. The Blue Dragon cross country All-American posted the sixth-fastest in Blue Dragon indoor history.
A pair of distance runners made a huge move up the 3,000-meter charts at Pittsburg on Saturday.
Freshman Sheila Too ran a time of 11:03.00 and sophomore Aileen Gomez ran a time of 11:16.30. Too and Gomez ran the second- and third-fastest times, respectively, in Blue Dragon indoor history.
For the men, cross country All-American Brett Hillabrand earned his second individual national qualification. On Saturday, Hillabrand qualified in the mile with a time of 4 minutes, 22.94 seconds. That’s the sixth-best time in Blue Dragon indoor history.
Freshman Sylvestre Kibarar also qualified in a second individual event when he posted a national qualifying time in the 5,000 meters. His time of 15.12.77 is the second-fastest time in team indoor history.
Sophomore Jared Stark ran a PR in the 3,000 meters and earned a nationals berth with a time of 8:50.82. That is the fourth-fastest time in Blue Dragon indoor history.
Sophomore Jason Luft qualified in the 800 meters. His time of 1:57.69 is the eighth fastest in Blue Dragon indoor history.
At Highland, Garet Johnson earned a spot in the national championships when he won the Scottie Classic shot put with a PR throw of 49 feet, 4 1/2 inches. Johnson also won the weight throw at Highland at 44-2 3/4.
Already qualified for nationals, the Blue Dragon men’s 4×400 relay team posted the ninth-fastest time in the nation at Pittsburg on Saturday. The relay of Dusty Torres, Denilson Whitmore, Donovan Whitmore and Elijah Smith ran a time of 3:17.72, which is the third fastest in Blue Dragon indoor history.
The Blue Dragons next compete at the Region VI Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Plaster Center in Pittsburg.