DRAGONS CAPTURE FIRST DISTRICT TITLE SINCE 2009

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

WICHITA – Heading into the final round of the NJCAA District III/Region VI Championship, the No. 3-ranked Hutchinson Community College men's golf team had all but secured the team's 20th-straight NJCAA national tournament berth.

The Blue Dragons were thinking bigger on Tuesday at Crestview Country Club's South Course.

Hutchinson rallied from a stroke down after 36 holes to snap a seven-year District III stranglehold by Indian Hills, narrowly defeating the No. 2-ranked Warriors on Tuesday by one stroke to capture third District III championship in team history, the first since 2009.

Freshman Harry Crockett kept the District III individual title in the family by winning the 2021 championship by six strokes. Crockett had a tournament-low 4-under 67 in Tuesday's final round. Older brother Charlie Crockett won the 2019 District individual championship. The 2020 spring season was wiped out by the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Blue Dragons also repeated as Region VI men's golf champion, winning the program's 20th overall regional title. Hutchinson defeated regional runner-up Garden City by 36 strokes.

The No. 3-ranked Blue Dragons will go into the 2021 NJCAA Division I Men's Championship on May 10-14 at The Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas, on a five-tournament winning streak. The Blue Dragons have a season-record six tournament team wins going back to the fall season when Hutchinson won the NJCAA National Preview on October.

The district team championship literally came down to the tournament's 54th hole on Tuesday.

The Blue Dragons posted a 54-hole total of 869 to Indian Hills' 870. The Warriors had Monday rounds of 293 and 292, while the Dragons had rounds of 294 and 292.

The Dragons edged the Warriors 283-285 in Tuesday's third and final round.

Charlie Crocket's 67 led the way for Hutchinson. Crockett had three birdies, one bogey and a key eagle on the par-5 seventh hole.

The Blue Dragons also counted Ben Partridge's even-par 71, Trey McCrae's 1-over 72 and Charlie Crockett's 2-over 73. Harry Fearn led Indian Hills with a 3-under 68, Antoine Sale's 1-under 71, Thomas Burou's 1-over 73 and Max Hartman's 4-over 75.

The Blue Dragons had three less birdies (17-14) and eight more bogeys (21-13) than Indian Hills. The Dragons made that up with Crockett's eagle and five Warrior double bogeys in the final round.

Hutchinson had three players finish in the District Top 10.

Harry Crockett became the third Blue Dragon to win the District III Individual Top 10 with a 54-hole total of 209. Crockett had rounds of 72 and 70 on Monday. He is the ninth Region VI individual champion in program history.

Partridge finished in a three-way tie for second at 215. Partridge shot rounds of 70, 74 and 71.

Charlie Crockett placed 10th in the district and third in the Region VI individual standings at 221. He had rounds of 75, 73 and 73.

McCrae tied for 15th in the district and earned first-team All-Region with a fifth-place finish after a 54-hole total of 224. McCrae had tournament rounds of 77, 75 and 72.

Cameron Rios-Ceballos shot a 6-over 77 on Tuesday to finish tied for 25th at 220. Rios-Ceballos had Monday rounds of 77 and 76. Rios-Ceballos finished tied for 13th in the Region.

Blue Dragon individual player Ben Hilton tied for 29th in the district and was 14th in the region at 231. He closed the tournament with a 76 on Tuesday. Addison Alonzo tied for 34th overall and 21st in the region at 235. Alonzo closed the tournament with an 80.

Hutchinson will be making its 23rd overall appearance in the NJCAA Championships in two weeks.