HAWKINS, KUEPKER LEAD DRAGONS ON FINAL DAY AT NJCAA
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
MONROE, Louisiana – Two more school record were broken and the Hutchinson Community College women's track and field team had its best national championship finish since 2019 on Saturday at the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
Freshman Brooke Hawkins finished as national runner-up in the triple jump and freshman Jenna Kuepker broke her own school javelin record to lead the Blue Dragon women to a 13th-place team performance at the 2024 NJCAA Division I Track and Field Championships.
The Blue Dragons scored 19.33 points, scoring in five events. The Dragons' point total and team placing were the best since 2019 when Hutchinson finished 10th with 20 points.
Including the two school records broken on Saturday by Hawkins and Kuepker, the Blue Dragon women broke a total of four over the weekend. Serenity Larson broke the 10,000-meter record and the Blue Dragon 4x800-meter relay – Ellie Van Zelfden, Larson, Abigail Grantham and Taylor Hoskinson – broke that record.
Hawkins took down record No. 3 in the women's triple jump and earned a national runner-up placing on Saturday.
The Blue Dragon freshman capped a tremendous season with a record-breaking jump of 40 feet, 3 1/4 inches. The national runner-up finish was the best event placing for a Blue Dragon since Morgan Ash was the national runner-up in the 2016 javelin.
The final record to fall came at the women's javelin by Kuepker. The Blue Dragon freshman unleashed a school-record throw of 158 feet, 1 inch, which broke her own record of 154-3 at the K.T. Woodman Classic in April.
Hurdler Kaylee James earned third-team All-America honors with a sixth-place performance in the 100-meter hurdle finals. James finished sixth in the finals with a time of 14.06 seconds. Adding to her indoor season, James is a two-time All-American this season.
Sophomore Taylor Hoskinson placed 10th in the 1,500-meter finals, posting a time of 4:49.54.
The Blue Dragons closed out the 2024 championships with two runners in the 5,000-meter finals. Larson placed 11th with a time of 18:48.40. Freshman Jordyn Picolet was 24th with a time of 19:56.88.
The 2024 Blue Dragons closed the season with seven school records and the best overall finish at the Region 6 championship – third place – in program history.