DRAGON MEN CAPTURE SECOND-STRAIGHT REGION 6 OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP

Sprinter Kebba Makalo wins the 100 and 200 meters to lead the Blue Dragon men's track and field team to a second-straight Region 6 Outdoor team championship on Saturday in Arkansas City. (Sydney Holzrichter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

May 2, 2026

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Hutchinson CC Sports Information

ARKANSAS CITY – Posting three event championships on Saturday at the Mark A. Phillips Track and Field Complex, the Hutchinson Community College men's track and field team repeated as Region 6 Champion.

The Blue Dragons won the 2026 men's outdoor team championship with 124 points, edging Barton, which had 121 points. Coffeyville finished third with 102 points. The Blue Dragons also won the 2026 Jayhawk West Championship with 168 points to Barton's 166 points. Cloud County was third with 141 points.

Hutchinson will now take 18 total qualifiers to the 2026 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 14-16 at Hobbs, New Mexico.

This is also the second-straight year that the Blue Dragon men won the Region 6 Cross Country, Region 6 Indoor and Region 6 Outdoor team championships.

The race for the 2026 team title came down to the 4x400-meter relay. The Blue Dragons and Barton were tied for the lead with 121 points. Some of the pressure on the Blue Dragons was lessened when Barton had to drop out because of an injury during the race.

The Dragon relay team of Keith Rogers, Max Ryan, Lushane Blake and Da'Shawn Lester placed sixth with a time of 3:20.06 to clinch the team championship.

Blue Dragon sophomore sprinter Kebba Makalo was named the 2026 Region 6 Outdoor Championship Athlete of the Meet. He scored 22 points for the Blue Dragons, sweeping both the 100 and 200 meters as well as running the anchor leg of Hutchinson's regional runner-up 4x100-meter relay team.

Makalo won the Region 6 100 meters with a time of 10.09 seconds after qualifying for the finals second on Friday at 10.43 seconds. He enters the national meet ranked No. 1 at 10.03 seconds.

Makalo won the 200 meters with a time of 20.62 seconds after qualifying for the finals with the third-best time. Makalo is No. 2 in the NJCAA at 20.49 seconds.

The 4x100-meter relay team of Keith Rogers, Giavonni Jones, Da'Shawn Lester and Makalo was second with a time of 40.05, which broke the Blue Dragon school record. The old record of 40.38 seconds set in 2018.

Sophomore thrower Joshua Sweetnam was the other Blue Dragon to win a regional championship. Sweetnam won the shot put with a mark of 55 feet, 10 1/2 inches (17.03 meters). He is currently No. 1 in the NJCAA at 60-3 3/4.

The Blue Dragons added four new national qualifiers on Saturday.

Pole vaulter Gregery Martinez had a career-best performance with a Region 6 runner-up finish after clearing 14-5 1/2 (4.41 meters).

Esteban Oses Campos qualified for nationals in the 1,500 meters with a regional runner-up time of 3:54.23. Oses Campos also placed fourth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:51.40, the eighth-fastest outdoor time in Blue Dragon history.

Rogers qualified in the 400-meter hurdles with a fifth-place regional time of 54.00 seconds. That time is the eighth-best time in Blue Dragon history.

Other Blue Dragon performances on Saturday:
+ Ricards Peders placed third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.60 seconds. Aidan Anderson placed sixth in 15.09 seconds.

+ Jahmari Clifton placed fourth in the high jump at 6-7 1/2 (2.02 meters). Joshua Muhozi was sixth at 6-5 1/2 (1.97 meters).

+ Tristan Sanders placed seventh in the triple jump at 45-7 3/4 (13.91 meters).

+ Esteban Ortega was eighth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:32.25.