HANSEN, DMR HIGHLIGHT DRAGON MEN ON REGION VI DAY 1

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

PITTSBURG – Pole vaulter Myles Hansen and the Distance Medley Relay team were the top finishers for the Hutchinson Community College men's track and field team on Day 1 of the Region VI Indoor Championships on Friday at Pittsburg State's Plaster Center.

With six events scored, the Blue Dragons are currently in fourth place with 22 points. Cloud County leads the men's team race with 67.5 points. Coffeyville is second with 58.5 points and Barton is third with 26 points.

CLICK FOR REGION VI INDOR TRACK RESULTS

Region VI Championship Day starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

The Blue Dragons didn't earn any new national qualifiers on Friday, but several Hutch athletes produced PRs and moved up the all-time Blue Dragon indoor performance charts.

Hansen placed second in the pole vault. Already an NJCAA qualifier, he cleared 14 feet, 3 1/2 inches on Friday. Also placing in the pole vault for the Dragons was Nathan Rice, who was sixth at 12-9 1/2.

Hutchinson's Distance Medley Relay placed third on Friday with a time of 10 minutes, 18.19 seconds. The relay of Brett Hillabrand, Elijah Smith, Jason Luft and Connor Kaufman posted the second-fastest time in Blue Dragon indoor history.

Sprinter Jared Scott qualified for Saturday's 200-meter finals with the third-fastest preliminary time of the day with a PR 21.43 seconds. That time was the third-fastest 200 indoor time in team history. Brock Appiah just missed the finals, but ran a PR 21.89 seconds, the ninth-fastest preliminary time.

Sophomore Jared Stark posted a personal-best time in the 5,000-meter finals. Stark's sixth-place time of 15:45.35. Stark's time was the fourth-fastest time in Blue Dragon indoor history.

Also scoring for the Blue Dragons was thrower Garet Johnson, who finished eighth on Friday with a throw of 46 feet, 5 1/4 inches.