CLICK FOR REGION VI CHAMPIONSHIP MEET PROGRAM

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

For the first time since 2016, Hutchinson will host the Region VI cross country championships on Friday.

It will be the first time Hutchinson holds the races at the Fun Valley Sports Complex.

The women's race will start at 10 a.m. and the men's race will follow at 10:45 a.m. Sixteen teams will be competing.

Last season, the Blue Dragon women finished third in the race as a team with Louise Cocking being crowned the regional champion. The Blue Dragon men did not post a team score last year but did have four runners finish in the top 50.

This season, the third-ranked Blue Dragon women have finished second at the Terry Masterson, finished as the top NJCAA team at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska, shattered many individual records at the Chili Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and took second at the Ollie Isom invite two weeks ago led by freshmen Serenity Larson and Taylor Hoskinson finishing third and fourth with freshman Gracie Lambert coming in at fifth.

The Blue Dragon women, who were ranked as high as No. 2 this season, are in search of their first regional championship since 2001 when they won the regional Division II race and also won the NJCAA national championship.

On the men's side, the Blue Dragon men head into Friday's regional race led by freshman Hayden Keller. Ranked currently No. 18, the Blue Dragon men have finished 18th as a team at the Masterson, 22nd out of 40 teams at the Chili Pepper Festival, and a season-best third at the Ollie Isom.

The last time the Blue Dragon men won the regional meet was back in 2018 when they also finished seventh at nationals. In 2019 and 2020, the men's team were the regional runner-up but went on to place seventh at nationals back-to-back years in 2018 and 2019 and then took fifth in 2020.