Hutchinson CC Sports Information
HILLSBORO – Alexander Holt has been on the cusp of qualifying for nationals in the hurdles all season long.
Holt missed qualifying for the indoor 60-meter hurdles by .03 seconds. Through four outdoor meets, the freshman was .28 second off the outdoor championship qualifying mark.
Holt finally reached his qualifying threshold on Saturday at the Tabor College Invitational at Wiens Stadium. Holt was one of two new Blue Dragon NJCAA Championship qualifiers, which brings the season total to seven.
Holt finished second in the 110-meter hurdles with a national qualifying time of 14.51 seconds. That mark is also a personal best time for Holt in the event.
Hutchinson's other national qualifier on Saturday was the Blue Dragon 4x400 relay team. The team of Davion Gardenhire, Dimetre Browne, Clyedterrios Thompson and Sharim Hamilton won the event with a national qualifying time of 3 minutes, 16.42 seconds. That time is the 10th-best 4x400 relay time in program history.
The Blue Dragons had one other event win on Saturday. That came from national-qualifying thrower Antonio Cooper, who won the shot put with a personal record distance of 53 feet, 7.75 inches. That mark is the sixth-best shot put in the NJCAA this season and is the fifth-best mark in Blue Dragon team history.
The Blue Dragons had five other PRs in the Tabor Invitational.
Freshman Caleb Manning had a PR in the triple jump. Manning placed second with a jump of 47 feet, 7 inches. Manning also had a PR in the long jump, placing fourth with a jump of 22-6.5.
Sophomore Simon Steinert cleared 14-1.25 to finish second in the pole vault.
Freshman Darrien Holloway PR'ed in the 110 hurdles with a fifth-place time of 15.03 seconds.
Gardenhire placed seventh in the 100 meters with a PR of 10.73 seconds.
Other top Blue Dragon performances on Saturday were:
+ Hamilton placed second in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 56.13 seconds.
+ Cooper and Jobe Fowles were second and third, respectively, in the discus. Cooper had a best throw of 145-6 and Fowles threw 134-3.
+ Sophomore Andrew Holt placed third in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:19.96.
+ Browne was third in the long jump after a top jump of 23-0.5.
+ Sophomore Aaron Geissinger was third in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase with a time of 10:47.62
+ Freshmen Carsyn Turpin and Andrew Holt were sixth and seventh, respectively in the 5,000 meters. Turpin's time of 16:33.17. Holt ran a time of 17:04.18.
+ Freshman Braydon Peterson placed fourth in the pole vault, clearing 11-7.75. He was seventh in the javelin with a throw of 132-3.
+ Fowles was seventh in the hammer throw with a distance of 139-6.
+ Alexander Holt was eighth in the high jump, clearing 5-11.5.
The Blue Dragons will next compete in the Butler Invitational next Saturday in El Dorado. This meet was originally scheduled for Friday, April 29, but it was moved back one day to April 30.