STRONG START FOR DRAGONS ON DAY 1 AT REGION 6 OUTDOOR

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FROM REGION 6 OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

ARKANSAS CITY – The Hutchinson Community College men's track and field team had one regional champion and three total national qualifiers on Day 2 of the 2026 Region 6 Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Mark A. Phillips Track and Field Complex.

Through 6 of 22 events, the Blue Dragons are tied with Barton for second place with 38 team points. Cloud County is the team leader with 44 points. The final day of competition begins at 11 a.m. Saturday in Arkansas City.

Freshman Yassine Sassi won the Blue Dragons' first individual regional championship on Friday in the men's long jump, the Blue Dragons scored 20 points in the event.

Sassi qualified for the NJCAA outdoor championships later this month with a winning jump of 23 feet, 10 3/4 (7.28 meters). Sassi was followed by Miguel Gaisah Essuman, who was third at 23-3 1/2. Tristan Smith was fifth with a top jump of 22-8 (6.91 meters).

The Blue Dragons added nine points in the 10,000 meters on Friday. Sophomore Dennis Cheriuyot placed fourth in a personal-record time of 31:19.64. That mark was a the fourth-fastest time in Blue Dragon men's outdoor history. Esteban Ortega was fifth in 31:37.74. Both Cheriuyot and Ortega punched tickets to the NJCAA National Championships.

Sophomore Joshua Sweetnam placed fourth in the discus with a top mark of 152 feet, 8 inches (46.55 meters). Colby Moler was fifth in the javelin with a throw of 161 feet, 7 inches (49.27 meters).

Sophomore Kebba Makalo advanced to Saturday's finals in both the 100 and 200 meters. Makalo qualified second in the 200 meters with a time of 20.88 seconds. He qualified third in the 100 meters with a time of 10.43 seconds.

Two Blue Dragon hurdlers advanced to the finals of the 110-meter hurdles. Ricards Peders qualified third with a time of 14.62 seconds. Aidan Anderson qualified with the fifth-best time of 15.31 seconds.