Oct 24, 2025

👟 No. 2 Dragon men repeat as Region VI champions

Posted Oct 24, 2025 10:55 PM
Cornelius Kogo (right) and Titus Kiprotich (left) finish 1-2 individually and lead the No. 2-ranked Blue Dragon men to a second-straight Region 6 Cross Country championship on Friday in Colby. (Photo courtesy Michael Smith)
Cornelius Kogo (right) and Titus Kiprotich (left) finish 1-2 individually and lead the No. 2-ranked Blue Dragon men to a second-straight Region 6 Cross Country championship on Friday in Colby. (Photo courtesy Michael Smith)

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

COLBY – The Hutchinson Community College men's cross country team accomplished a feat the program had not completed since 1987 – repeat as Region 6 Champions.

Led by three runners finishing in the individual Top 10, the No. 2-nationally ranked Blue Dragons edged Butler to win the 2025 Region 6 Division I Men's Championship on Friday at Meadow Lake Golf Course in Colby.

The Blue Dragons repeated as regional champions with a team score of 33 points. Butler was second with 39 points, followed by Colby with 85 and Garden City with 86.

CLICK FOR COMPLETE REGION 6 AND JAYHAWK CONFERENCE RESULTS

The Blue Dragons also repeated as Jayhawk West champions with 23 team points. Colby was second with 63 and Garden City was third with 65 points.

Hutchinson head coach Jafet Molinares was named the 2025 Region 6 Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year.

Sophomore Cornelius Kogo became the fourth Blue Dragon to win the Region 6 individual championship. He posted a winning time of 24:17.77. Kogo joins Andrew Kibet (2018), and Doug Proett (1987) and Bryan Lopez (1983) as Blue Dragon individual regional champions.

This was Kogo's second career race victory as a Blue Dragon.

Right behind Kogo was teammate Titus Kiprotich who ran a time of 24:16.17. Kiprotich has finished in the Top 5 of every Blue Dragon race this season.

Sophomore Farrin Mangelson had a big finish to place sixth in a time of 24:51.39. Through six kilometers, Mangelson was eighth at the time about 5 seconds behind a Butler runner, who was running sixth. Mangelson ran the final 2K of the race in 5:59, passing two runners, which was key in the team standings, to finish sixth. Mangelson placed fourth in the Jayhawk West race.

Freshman Esteban Ortega placed 11th in the region and seventh in the conference with a time of 25:16.38. Freshman Esteban Oses Campos was 13th and ninth in a time of 25:22.28. Sophomore Dennis Cheruiyot was 14th and 10th, respectively, with a time of 25:38.23. Freshman Max Ryan placed 66th and 46th, respectively with a time of 31:00.15.

The team regional championship was the ninth in Blue Dragon men's history. Hutchinson repeated as champions in 1986 and 1987. This was the team's fourth conference title in history.

Next up for the Blue Dragons will be the NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championship on November 8 in Fort Dodge, Iowa.