DRAGON MEN EARN 3 NJCAA QUALIFIERS IN SEASON OPENER

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

TOPEKA – The Hutchinson Community College men's track and field team earned three NJCAA national qualifiers on Saturday at the season-opening Washburn Rust Buster Classic at the Washburn Indoor Athletic Facility.

Freshman David Thid won the 600-yard run on Saturday with a time of 1:12.43. His converted 600-meter time of 1:21.13 surpassed the 2024 indoor national qualifying standard and was the third-fastest indoor 600-meter time in Blue Dragon history.

Freshman Ty'Rique Roland placed fifth in the high jump. He cleared the national qualifying standard with a clearance at 6 feet, 7 inches(2.01 meters).

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Freshman Christopher Johnson was the third NJCAA qualifier on Saturday. He placed sixth at the Rust Buster with a clearance of 14 feet, 11 1/2 inches.

Blue Dragon sophomore sprinter Ezekiel Seamster narrowly missed national qualifying marks in the 60 and 200 meters.

Seamster topped a field of 100 runners to win the Rust Buster 200 meters with a personal-best time of 21.79 seconds. That time is the fourth-fastest 200 indoor time in Blue Dragon history and just .11 seconds of the national qualifying standard.

Seamster finished fifth in the 50 meters with a time of 6.88 seconds. That mark is 0.5 seconds off national qualifying. He qualified for the finals with the fifth-best preliminary time of 6.89 seconds.

Freshman Elisha Williams placed third in the 200 with a time of 21.90 seconds, which is .22 second off the qualifying mark. Williams posted the eighth-fastest 200 indoor time in Blue Dragon history.

The Blue Dragons had two other Top 10 finishes both coming in the triple jump. Jack Losew tied a personal best with a jump of 43-1 (13.13m). Makail Nelson placed 10th with a top jump of 43-0 1/4 (13.11m).

The Blue Dragons will split the team next week and compete at both the Wichita State Herm Wilson Invitational and the Pittsburg State Classic.