JOHNSON, SEAMSTER STRONG AT WSU; DRAGONS QUALIFY 2 AT PITT STATE
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
WICHITA/PITTSBURG – Two Hutchinson Community College men's track and field athletes improved their national qualifying marks from a week ago and two more qualified on Saturday as the Blue Dragons competed both at the Herm Wilson Classic at Wichita State and the Wendy's/Pittsburg State Invitational.
Pole vaulter Chris Johnson and sprinter Ezekiel Seamster led the Blue Dragons at the Heskett Center in Wichita at the Herm Wilson Invitational. Freshman Titus Kiprotich and Leo LeGrand posted national-qualifying marks at the Plaster Center in Pittsburg to lead the Blue Dragons, who now have six total national qualifiers through two weeks of the 2024 indoor season.
Johnson cleared 15 feet in the pole vault for the first time in his collegiate career, going 15 feet, 3 inches (4.65 meters) to finish second in the Herm Wilson pole vault on Saturday.
Seamster won the 60 meters for the second-straight week, capturing the Herm Wilson 60 meters with a personal-record time of 6.72 seconds. That time is the third-fastest indoor 60-meter time in Blue Dragon history.
At Pittsburg, Kiprotich posted the second-best 3,000-meter time in program history with a national qualifying time of 8:36.68, finishing 10th overall.
LeGrand qualified for nationals in the 800 meters with a time of 1:55.01. LeGrand placed 13th at Pittsburg State and his time ranks No. 3 on the Blue Dragon all-time indoor 800-meter charts. LeGrand had big day. He finished 20th in the Mile run with a time of 4:20.95, the eighth-fastest indoor time in Blue Dragon indoor history.
Other Saturday highlights at the Herm Wilson Classic:
+ Ty'Rique Roland, a national qualifier in the high jump from last week, tied for fifth on Saturday in Wichita after clearing 6-4 3/4 (1.95m).
+ Sprinter D'Antonio Warren just missed qualified for nationals in the 60 meters. His fourth-place finals time of 6.89 is just .06 seconds of the national qualifying standard. Warren rank a 6.92 in the preliminaries.
+ Andrew Hildebrand posted a PR in the shot put of 44-2 3/4 (13.48m)
Other Saturday highlights at Pittsburg State:
+ Farrin Mangelson placed eighth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:08.83, the fourth-best time in Blue Dragon indoor history.
+ Christian Darrah ran a PR in the Mile run with a time of 4:28.62.
The Blue Dragons next compete in the Washburn Open next Friday and Saturday in Topeka.