Freshman Paige Stuhlsatz earned the Hutchinson Community College women’s track and field team’s second individual Region VI championship on Saturday at Gowans Stadium.
Stuhlsatz, the 2012 NJCAA Indoor pole vault national runner-up, went into the NJCAA outdoor championships by posting the second-best vault in program history on Saturday in winning the Region VI Outdoor Track and Field championships.
Stuhlsatz cleared 11 feet, 7 3/4 inches to claim the regional title, which is a season’s best for the freshman from Garden Plain. Going after 12 feet for the first time competition, Stuhlsatz barely missed on 2 of her 3 attempts.
Stuhlsatz joined Emily Yoder as regional champions to lead the Blue Dragons to a sixth-place showing in the Region VI standings and a third-place effort in the Jayhawk West championships. HCC scored 63 regional points as Johnson County won women’s team title with 175 points. HCC scored 140.5 points in the Jayhawk West as Butler won the Jayhawk West crown with 196 points.
Hutchinson scored in six events on Saturday to close out the regional championships.
Autumn Iverson was a regional runner-up in the shot put with a top effort of 42 feet, 11 3/4 inches.
A pair of Lady Dragons scored in the high jump. Cassie Wiley placed fifth after clearing 5-3. Bre Bennett was tied for eighth, tying a personal best at 4 feet, 9 inches.
Bennett placed fourth in the triple jump, notching another personal mark with a leap of 35 feet, 3 inches. Tatianna Chandler finished sixth in the triple jump at 34-4 1/2.
Stuhlsatz, Bennett, Chandler and Wiley combined to finished seventh in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 51.55 seconds.
Sophomore Sarah Talbert and freshman Ashley Lorence both placed in the discus. Talbert was fifth with a throw of 126 feet, 4 inches. Lorence was seventh at 117-10.
The Lady Dragons have seven qualifiers for the 2012 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships next week in Levelland, Texas.
(HCC Sports Information)
