BLUE DRAGON WOMEN SHATTER RECORD BOOK AT CHILI PEPPER

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – Hutchinson Community College women's cross country has been around since 1984. Not once over those 40-plus seasons has a Blue Dragon runner broken the 18 minute mark at 5,000 meters.

That changed on Saturday at the University of Arkansas Chili Pepper Festival as not 1, not 2, but three different Blue Dragon runners eclipsed the 18-minute barrier to re-write Hutchinson's record book.

Freshmen Faith Jepchirchir and Lilian Mateo Torrez and sophomore Jordyn Picolet became the first three Blue Dragon women's runners to break the 18-minute mark, leading No. 7 Hutchinson to a 13th-place team finish in a field that included some of the top NCAA Division I teams. Hutchinson was the third-highest finishing NJCAA team in the field with 382 points.

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Jepchirchir, who won the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic in August, led the Blue Dragons on Saturday, shattering the old Blue Dragon 5,000-meter record by 1 minute and 4 seconds with a time of 17:08.1. Jepchirchir placed 21st in the Chili Pepper.

Mateo Torrez was making her Blue Dragon debut and was impressive with a 38th-place time of 17:31.9.

Picolet smashed her career-best 8K time as a freshman by 44.5 seconds with a time of 17:53.1.

Those three times helped the Blue Dragons run an average time of 18:31.72.

Also posting a career-best 5K time was sophomore Abigail Grantham, who placed 176th in a time of 20:01.9.

Sophomore Laura Avila placed 178th with a time of 20:03.7.

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