Hutchinson CC Sports Information

PITTSBURG – Down to the final event of the 2022 Region VI Indoor Championships, the Hutchinson Community College men's track and field team hadn't earned any new national qualifying marks.

The Blue Dragon 4x400 Relay took care of that by becoming the seventh qualifier for the NJCAA Championships for the Blue Dragons in a sixth-place finish on Sunday at Pittsburg State's Plaster Center.

Hutchinson wound up ninth overall scoring 42 points. Cloud County won the men's team title with 119 points. Barton and Butler tied for second with 97 points.

The Blue Dragon relay team of Davion Gardenhire, Jovan Jackson, Cleydterrious Thompson and Sharim Hamilton placed sixth in the Region VI championships with a national qualifying time of 3:19.00. That time is the third fastest indoor 4x400 relay time in Blue Dragon history.

Two members of that relay scored individual points for the Blue Dragons on Sunday.

Thompson, already a national qualifier in the event, finished seventh in the 60 meters with a time of 6.87 seconds.

Hamilton placed sixth in the 400 meters with a time of 48.99 seconds.

Caleb Manning scored points in two events on Sunday. He placed fifth in the high jump after clearing 6-2.75. Manning also placed seventh in the triple jump with a jump of 45-11.75.

Antonio Cooper placed fourth in the shot put with a top effort of 51 feet, 5.50 inches. He nailed that distance on the second throw of the finals.

Alexander Holt finished sixth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.38 seconds.

Andrei Fuentes placed sixth in the triple jump with a time of 46-3.14.

The Blue Dragons return to the Plaster Center on March 4-5 for the NJCAA Indoor National Championships.