BLUE DRAGON MEN PLACE FIFTH AT REGION VI CHAMPIONSHIPS

Blue Dragon sprinter Ezekiel Seamster won the Region VI Indoor 60-meter championship on Sunday by .006 seconds to lead the Blue Dragon men to a fifth-place finish at Pittsburg State's Plaster Center. (Photo by Ed Bailey)

February 18, 2024

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

PITTSBURG – Ezekiel Seamster and Chris Johnson claimed individual regional championships and the Hutchinson Community College men's track and field team had its first Top 5 finish at the Region VI Indoor Championships since 2020.

The Blue Dragons placed fifth on Sunday at Pittsburg State University's Robert Plaster Center scoring 73 team points. That's the most in an indoor regional championship since scoring 59 in 2020.

The Blue Dragons had six new national qualifiers to take a total of 14 qualifiers to the 2024 NJCAA Indoor Championships on March 1-2 in Gainesville, Florida.

Seamster captured his fourth 60-meter championship in five events in the indoor season. The Blue Dragon sophomore ran 6.76 seconds in Sunday's finals, winning the event by .006 second.

Johnson, who set a Blue Dragon indoor pole vault record earlier this season, won the 2024 Region VI championship going 15 feet, 6.5 inches (4.74m).

Freshman Leo LeGrand earned his second and third individual national qualifications on Sunday. LeGrand placed third in the Mile run with a time of 4:16.25, the fourth-fastest time in Blue Dragon indoor history. He then placed fourth in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:32.25, the third-fastest time in the event in Blue Dragon indoor history.

LeGrand also ran the third leg of Hutchinson's national qualifying Distance Medley Relay team. The relay group of Christian Darrah, Omari Smith, LeGrand and Titus Kiprotich placed third in the regional with a time of 10:14.38, which is the third-fastest time in Blue Dragon indoor history.

Other Blue Dragon highlights from this weekend's Region VI championships:
+ Freshman Jayse Spencer placed third in the pole vault with a national qualifying mark of 13-11, a PR for Spencer.

+ Freshman Farrin Mangelson qualified in the 5,000 meters late on Saturday night with a time of 14:59.86, the third-fastest time in Blue Dragon indoor history. Mangelson also placed sixth in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:47.14.

+ The Blue Dragon 4x400 relay team qualified for nationals with a time of 3:17.44, which was good for fifth place at regionals on Sunday. The relay team of Rickyle Telemaque, Seamster, D'Antonio Warren and Elisha Williams posted the third-best relay time in Blue Dragon indoor history.

+ Kiprotich was a regional runner-up in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:41.65. Kiprotich has already qualified for nationals in the event.

+ The 4x800-meter relay team of Evan Avitia, Kiprotich, David Ulteras placed fourth on Sunday with a time of 806.64.

+ Freshman Ty'Rique Roland tied for fifth in the high jump going 6-4.5 (1.94m).

+ Williams was seventh in the 400 meters with a time of 48.59 seconds.

Cloud County won the team title with 127 points. Barton was runner-up with 119 points. Fort Scott was third with 114 points and Butler was fourth with 101 points.