Cowley Men Win NJCAA Region 6 Cross Country Championship Team Titles

With all five scoring runners finishing in the top 15 of the meet, the Hutchinson Community College men's cross country team won the 2024 NJCAA Region 6 Division 1 Men's Cross Country Championship meet held at the Kansas Veterans Home in Winfield, Kansas on Friday, October 25th.

Along with the Blue Dragons, Cowley Community College won the NJCAA Region 6 Division 2 Men's Cross Country Championship as the best-finishing team of the three NJCAA Region 6 Division 2 men's teams that participated in the meet.

HCC totaled 35 points in the NJCAA Region 6 Division 1 men's race as all seven runners that were entered by the Blue Dragons finished in the top 26 to earn a team score of 35 points and finish 15 points ahead of Region 6 Division 1 runner-up Butler who earned 50 points while being led by Region 6 individual champion Emmanuel Otim (23:40.45). Fort Hays Tech Northwest was a distant third with 79 total team points followed by Garden City (97 points), Cloud County (149 points), Colby (164 points), Barton (203 points), Dodge City (209 points), Neosho County (225 points), Coffeyville (239 points), and Fort Scott (319 points).

In the Region 6 Division 2 Championship team scoring, Cowley finished with 23 points to beat out Allen who finished with 38 total points while Hesston finished in third with 72 total points.

Butler and Hutchinson won the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference East and West Division titles as the Grizzlies were a point away from a perfect score to finish with 16 points and earn a runaway win over Cowley (53 points) followed by Allen (85 points), Neosho County (110 points), Coffeyville (124 points), Hesston (156 points) and Fort Scott (189 points). A similar spread was seen in the KJCCC West team scores as the Blue Dragons finished with 25 points and well ahead of second-place Fort Hays Tech Northwest (61 points) followed by Garden City (76 points), Colby and Cloud County (117 points), Barton (146 points), and Dodge City (157 points).

All-NJCAA Region 6 Runners (Top 15 Overall Finishers):

1. Emmanuel Otim (Butler) – 23:40.45
2. Dennis Cheruiyot (Hutchinson) - 23:46.77
3. Cornelius Kogo (Hutchinson) - 23:50.50
4. Sibonelo Khumalo (Colby) - 23:53.18
5. Titus Kiprotich (Hutchinson) - 23:58.94
6. Sfiso Makolomkwa (Butler) - 24:20.35
7. Kabelo Maja (Fort Hays Tech NW) - 24:29.45
8. Itumeleng Ngxabazi (Butler) - 24:37.36
9. Lel Limo (Barton) - 24:48.02
10. Farrin Mangelson (Hutchinson) - 24:49.77
11. Andreas Laursen (Garden City) - 24:55.72
12. Sibonokuhle Thwala (Fort Hays Tech NW) - 25:02.19
13. Ishmael Acheampong (Butler) - 25:04.00
14. Lucky Maila (Fort Hays Tech NW) - 25:12.48
15. Thaddaeus Rotich (Hutchinson) - 25:12.86