Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College women's cross country team turned a third-place showing in the season-opening Terry Masterston Twilight Classic into a Top 5 national ranking on Wednesday.

The Blue Dragon women are ranked in the Top 5 of the national rankings for the first time since 2003 as Hutchinson sits in fifth in the first United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NJCAA Division I rankings of the 2020 season.

Not many teams around the country competed last weekend and there are several schools not running cross country this season because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Cross Country stayed in its traditional season slot while the rest of the fall sports' seasons were moved to spring by the NJCAA because of the pandemic.

Hutchinson is one of four Jayhawk Conference teams ranked in the Top 10. Masterson Twilight Classic women's team champion Cloud County is third. Hutchinson is fifth, Dodge city is sixth and Barton is ninth.

Iowa Central is the No. 1 team in the first women's national rankings of the season. New Mexico Junior College is second.

Led by freshman Louise Cocking, the Blue Dragons finished third in the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic. The Blue Dragons had two other Top 20 finishers in sophomore Sheila Too (seventh) and Megan Miller (17th).

The Blue Dragons will next compete at the Muthama-Rogers Invitational at Bethel College in North Newton on September 19.