Hutchinson CC Sports Information
For the second time in four seasons, the Hutchinson Community College women's cross country team has captured the Region 6 Cross Country team championship.
Led by freshman Mildred Rono, the No. 11-ranked Blue Dragons edged Butler 48-56 to capture the program's third all-time championship on Friday at Meadow Lake Golf Course in Colby. Hutchinson also won regional team titles in 2001 and 2022.
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Hutchinson also captured its third Jayhawk West women's cross country championship in team history with 37 points. Cloud County and Garden City tied for second with 53 points.
Rono became the fourth Blue Dragon women's runner to capture a Region 6 individual championship, joining Faith Jepchirchir (2024), Louise Cocking (2021) and Ruth Limo (2001).
Rono was running in a tightly-knit lead pack of five runners through three kilometers. That pack included Blue Dragon freshman Ashara Frater. With two kilometers to go, Rono broke away from the pack and was never challenged again. Posting a time of 17:10.69, Rono won the race by 45.80 seconds over runner-up Elizabeth Hernandez of Butler.
Rono won the third race of her freshman season and posted the second-fastest Blue Dragon time in a Region 6 event.
Frater placed fourth in Region 6 and third in the Jayhawk West with a time of 18:09.22. That mark was the fifth fastest 5K time in Blue Dragon history and the fifth-fastest Region 6 time in team history.
Giving the Blue Dragons a huge boost was the return of freshman Mali Lovett, who ran for the first time this season on Friday. Lovett ran a time of 18:52.71 to finish eighth in the region and seventh in the conference. Lovett's time was the 10th-fastest 5K time in team history and seventh-fastest Blue Dragon mark in Region 6 history.
Freshman Kimberlyn Lovell was 16th with a time of 20:02.32. She finished fourth in the Jayhawk West.
Freshman Eva Ramey was 20th and 14th, respectively, in a time of 20:20.25.
Freshman Sabrina McDonald placed 39th in the region and 29th in the conference with a time of 22:58.15.
Next up for the Blue Dragons will be the NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championship on November 8 in Fort Dodge, Iowa.