BENTSINK PACES DRAGON MEN AT CHILI PEPPER

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Hutchinson CC Sports Information

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – The No. 17-ranked Hutchinson Community College men's cross country team was the top Region VI team on Friday at the University of Arkansas' Chili Pepper Festival.

The Blue Dragons played 22nd in the 38-men's Men's 8K Open Division with two runners placing in the Top 100 of the 349-runner race. The Dragons scored 540 team points.

Freshman Douwe Bentsink ran his career-best 8,000-meter time of 27 minutes, 18.5 seconds, which was 73rd overall. That time was 16 seconds better than Bentsink's 8K time at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational two weeks ago in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Freshman Hayden Keller placed 76th with a time of 27:22.5

Freshman Martin Marquez ran a career-best 28:03.6 to finish 110th. That time was 35 seconds better than Marquez posted two weeks ago.

Sophomore Caryn Turpin placed 145th with a time of 28:30.4. Freshman Evan Avitia was 195th in a time of 29:14.4. Christian Darrah was 224th with a time of 29:54.6.

The Blue Dragons posted an average time of 28:05.88.

Drury University won the team title with 81 points. Texas A&M-Texarkana's Vincent Nchogu, a former Northwest Tech runner, won the individual title in a time of 24:53.3.

The Blue Dragons next compete at the Ollie Isom Classic on Friday, October 14 in El Dorado.