DRAGON MEN POST THREE ALL-TIME TOP 10 TIMES AT CHILI PEPPER

The No. 9-ranked Blue Dragon Men's Cross Country Team finished higher than No. 3 Iowa Central and No. 6 Crowder as well as NCAA Division I LSU in an eight-place finish on Saturday at the Chili Pepper Festival. (Andrew Carpenter/Digital Fox Photography)

September 28, 2024

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – Running against some of the top teams at the NCAA Division I level, the NJCAA No. 9-ranked Hutchinson Community College men's cross country team posted a team Top 10 finish on Saturday at the University of Arkansas Chili Pepper Festival.

Dennis Cheruiyot, Cornelius Kogo and Titus Kiprotich ran times in the Blue Dragon all-time Top 10 at 8,000 meters to lead the Blue Dragons to an eighth-place team performance on Saturday.

Arkansas won the men's team title with 29 points. Western Colorado was second with 127 points. The Blue Dragons were the second-highest NJCAA team in the team standings, scoring 259 points to finish eighth. Only Butler placed higher than the Dragons. The Grizzlies were seventh with 207 points.

CLICK FOR COMPLETE TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL CHILI PEPPER FESTIVAL RESULTS

Hutchinson's solid performance helped the Blue Dragons finish better than NJCAA No. 3 Iowa Central and No. 6 Crowder College. The Dragons also finished ahead of NCAA Division I power LSU. The Tigers placed ninth.

The Dragons posted a team time average of 25:09.54 on Saturday.

Running his first 8K race as a Blue Dragon, Cheruiyot led Hutchinson with a 14th-place performance – second among NJCAA runners – in a time of 24:22.9. That time is the fifth-fastest time by a Blue Dragon at 8,000 meters in program history.

Kogo placed 17th at the Chili Pepper. His time of 24:29.2 was third best among NJCAA runners and the sixth fastest 8K time in Blue Dragon history.

Kiprotich placed 33rd on Saturday with the 10th-fastest 8K time in team history of 24:54.9.

Farin Mangelson was the only other Blue Dragon to place in the Chili Pepper Top 100, placing 98th in a time of 25:48.1.

The remaining Blue Dragon runners finished:

+ Thaddaeus Rotich placed 128th in 26:13.0;

+ Kaden Lohrentz placed 141st in 26:26.1;

+ David Ultreras placed 159th in 26:52.4;

+ Leo LeGrand placed 219th in 28:04.5;

+ Blake Yoder placed 258th in 30:39.5.

The Blue Dragons will next run at the Cowley Invitational on October 12 in Winfield.