Championship Central

COLBY, Kan. – Led by the top two runners in the meet and six All-Region 6 runners, the Hutchinson Community College men’s cross country team defended its 2024 NJCAA Region 6  Men’s Cross Country title by winning the 2025 NJCAA Region 6 Division 1 Men’s Cross Country Championship race to go back-to-back at the Meadow Lake Golf Course in Colby, Kansas.  

Setting the pace for the Blue Dragons was the duo of Cornelius Kogo (24:14/77) and Titus Kiprotich (24:16.77) as HCC totaled 33 points in the NJCAA Region 6 Division 1 men’s race while having six of their seven runners finish in the top 15 to win a team scoring battle over Butler, who finished as NJCAA Region 6 Runners-Up with 40 total points. In addition to the one-two finish by Kogo and Kiprotich, Hutchinson got a sixth-place finish from Farrin Mangelson, along with a 12th-place finish from Esteban Ortega, 14th-place finish from Esteban Oses Campos, and 15th-place finish from Dennis Cheruiyot. Butler, meanwhile, was led by third-place finisher Itumeleng Ngxabazi (24:34.24) and had two top five finishers as part of four All-Region 6 runners to win the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference East Division Title. Host Colby Community College placed third with 85 total points, one point ahead of fourth-place Garden City (86 points), followed by Cloud County (147 points), Dodge City (159 points), Neosho County (195 points), Coffeyville (251 points), Fort Hays Tech Northwest (280 points), Highland (285 points), and Barton (295 points) in the team scoring.   

In the Region 6 Division 2 Championship team scoring, Cowley was the only team represented with seven total runners and were led by Esteban Boisseau, who earned All-Region 6 status by placing 10th with a time of 24:57.21.

Hutchinson and Butler won the KJCCC West and East titles as the Blue Dragons had a team score of 23 points to place well-ahead of second-place Colby (63 points) while the Grizzlies were a point away from a perfect score to finish with 16 points after having the top-four runners and five of the seven All-KJCCC East runners while Cowley took second with 47 total points. Other teams in the KJCCC West scoring included Garden City (third, 65 points), Cloud County (fourth, 108 points), Dodge City (fifth, 114 points), Fort Hays Tech Northwest (sixth, 186 points), and Barton (seventh, 197 points) while remaining KJCCC East scoring had Neosho County take third (83 points), Coffeyville fourth (112 points), and Highland fifth (132 points).

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

      1. Cornelius Kogo (Hutchinson) - 24:14.77

      2. Titus Kiprotich (Hutchinson) - 24:16.17

      3. Itumeleng Ngxabazi (Butler) - 24:34.24 

      4. Thaddaeus Rotich (Garden City) - 24:38.49 

      5. Sfiso Makolomakwa (Butler) - 24:48.63 

      6. Farrin Mangelson (Hutchinson) - 24:51.39

      7. Emmanuel Otim (Butler) - 24:52.48 

      8. Japhet Kiprono (Colby) - 24:54.72 

      9. Kamohelo Ramatsebe (Butler) - 24:57.21 

      10. Esteban Boisseau (Cowley) - 25:06.63 

      11. Josue Vega (Dodge City) - 25:07.62 

      12. Esteban Ortega (Hutchinson) - 25:16.38 

      13. Kenan Delestre (Colby) - 25:19.58 

      14. Esteban Oses Campos (Hutchinson) - 25:22.28 

      15. Dennis Cheruiyot (Hutchinson) - 25:38.22