JEPCHIRCHIR IS NJCAA NATIONAL RUNNER-UP; TEAM 6TH

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Hutchinson CC Sports Information

RICHMOND, Virginia – Freshman Faith Jepchirchir's historical season got even more historical on Saturday at the NJCAA Division I National Cross Country Championships.

Jepchirchir became the highest-placing Blue Dragon individual placer in nationals history with a runner-up finish at Pole Green Park.

Jepchirchir and sophomore Jordyn Picolet were Top 20 placers to lead the Blue Dragons to a sixth-place team finish, Hutchinson's third-straight Top 10 national finish.

Already this season, Jepchirchir became the first Blue Dragon in history to break the 18-minute barrier at 5,000 meters and later became the first to break the 17-minute mark. Saturday, the freshman became the first Blue Dragon runner to finish as high as No. 2 in nationals history and posted a Blue Dragon national meet record time.

Jepchirchir became the 11th NJCAA All-American in team history, finishing second with a time of 17:15.0. She finished seven seconds behind individual national champion Elizabeth Ilanda of Odessa (17:08.0).

Jepchirchir surpassed Elissa Peterman in 1999 and Pam Shelite in 2001 as the highest-placing national placers in Blue Dragon history. Peterman and Shelite ran in Division II. The previous best Division I national finish was Louise Cocking's fifth-place performance in 2020.

Picolet's 20th-place finish earned her NJCAA Coaches Association All-America honors (Top 40 finish). She is the 21st Coaches Association All-American in team history. Picolet's time of 17:59.6 is the second time she broke 18 minutes this season. Picolet's time is the second-fastest national time in program history.

Sophomore Abigail Grantham posted a personal-best time on Saturday, placing 60th with a time of 19:22.3. That time is now fifth-fastest in Blue Dragon nationals history and the 15th-fastest overall time in team history.

Freshman Eva Lemaster became the 42nd Blue Dragon runner to break the 20-minute barrier, placing 72nd overall with a career-best 19:51.5. That ranks 19th on the Blue Dragon career list.

Sophomore Laura Avila was 96th with a time of 20:17.8. Freshman Rio Kerven was 131st with a time of 21:05.7

The Blue Dragons scored 231 team points and was the top Jayhawk Conference team placer at nationals. Salt Lake won the team title with 55 points. Iowa Central was second with 105 points and New Mexico Junior College was third with 109 points.