BLUE DRAGON MEN NET 4 QUALIFIERS, 3 RECORDS AT WASHBURN, WSU
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The Hutchinson Community College men's track and Field team continued rack up records and national qualifiers in a pair of meets over the in Topeka and Wichita.
The Blue Dragons earned five new NJCAA Indoor National Championship qualifiers and broke two more school records competing at the Washburn Open in Topeka and the Wichita State Coach Wilson Invitational.
Through two meets, the Blue Dragons have 10 total qualifiers for the 2026 NJCAA Indoor Championships in Topeka. The Dragons are off this weekend and return to Topeka on Feb. 14 for the Ichabod Open
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The first record of the weekend came at the Washburn Open as sophomore Cornelius Kogo finished fifth in the 5,000 meters with a school-record time of 14 minutes, 18.05 seconds. This is Kogo's second event to qualify for nationals. He beat the old Blue Dragon mark of Titus Kiprotich of 14:39.91 set in 2025. Kogo is also qualified in the 3,000 meters.
The other school record to fall came at the Coach Wilson Invitational.
Sophomore Joshua Sweetnam won the shot put with a Blue Dragon record of 55 feet, 6 1/2 inches. Sweetman ranks No. 3 in the NJCAA national rankings. Sweetnam topped the 2013 Blue Dragon record of Skylar Arneson (54-10).
Blue Dragon hurdler Richards Peders punched his ticket to nationals in the 60-meter hurdles. Peders was fourth in qualifying at the Coach Wilson Invitational with a time of 8.24 seconds. He bettered that mark to a national-qualifying time of 8.11 seconds, which was fourth in the vent and third-best 60-meter hurdle time in Blue Dragon history.
The Blue Dragons picked up two national qualifiers in the Washburn Open long jump.
Freshman Yassine Sassi won the Washburn long jump with a national-qualifying mark of 24 feet, 7 1/4 inches (7.47 meters). He posted the third-best indoor long jump in Blue Dragon history and the fifth-best long jump in the nation this season.
Freshman teammate Miguel Gaisch Essumann placed third in the Washburn long jump with a national qualifying mark of 23-10 3/4 (7.28 meters), which is the 10th-best long jump in Blue Dragon indoor history.
Sophomore Da'Shawn Lester qualified for nationals in the 600 meters after finishing 11th in the Washburn Open 600-yard run. Lester's converted 600-meter time was 1:20.43, which surpassed the national qualifying standard.
Sophomore sprinter Kebba Makalo won the Washburn Open 60 meters on Saturday. Makalo ran a 6.84 in the Washburn preliminary round and then posted second-best semifinal time of 6.70. Makalo then posted a personal-best time of 6.68 seconds to win the event and post the third-fastest 60-meter time in Blue Dragon history and eighth fastest time in the NJCAA this season.
Other Top Blue Dragon Performances from the weekend are:
+ Freshman Esteban Ortega posted the fifth-fastest 5,000-meter time in Blue Dragon history with a 26th-place finish at the Washburn Open with a time of 15:06.01.
+ The 4x400 relay team of Makalo, Keith Rogers, Lushane Blake and Lester posted a 15th-place time at Washburn of 3:18.88, which is the sixth-best relay time in Blue Dragon indoor history.