Hutchinson Wins Second-Straight NJCAA Region 6 Outdoor Track Title
Championship Central | Region 6 Results | KJCCC East Results | KJCCC West Results
ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. – With two teams tied heading into the final event of the meet, the Hutchinson Community College men’s track and field team edged out Barton Community College to win their second consecutive NJCAA Region 6 Outdoor Track and Field Championship at the Mark A. Phillips Track and Field Complex on the campus of Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kansas.
A sixth-place finish in the 4x400 meter relay proved to be enough for the Blue Dragons to grab the title as both HCC and Barton were tied at 121 points each through 21 scored events. Matched up against each other in the second heat of the 4x400 relay, an injury to Barton’s second leg of the relay led to the Cougars being unable to finish the race, allowing Hutchinson to capture the Region 6 title by finishing in the top eight of the remaining nine teams still able to score in the event. Following Barton in the team scoring was Coffeyville with 102 points, while Cloud County finished fourth (96 points), and Butler (79 points) took fifth among the 14 teams represented in the meet.
In addition to winning the NJCAA Region 6 title, Hutchinson added the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference West Division Championship with 168 points after finishing two points ahead of second-place Barton (166 points), while Cloud County took third with 141 points. The KJCCC East Division Title was won by Coffeyville Community College after the Red Ravens netted 248 points to run away with the division championship, while Cowley College (144 points) and Allen (134 points) rounded out the top three.
Hutchinson’s Region 6 title came with four individual Region 6 Champions, including the 2026 NJCAA Region 6 Outdoor Track Athlete of the Meet Kebba Makalo sweeping the 100 meters (10.09 seconds) and 200 meters (20.62 seconds) titles while seeing Yassine Sassi win the long jump (7.28 meters, 23 feet, 10.75 inches) and Joshua Sweetnam win the shot put (17.03 meters, 55 feet, 10.5 inches). The Blue Dragons added another 10 points in the long jump with a third-place finish from Miguel Gaisah Essuman (7.10 meters, 23 feet, 3.5 inches) and fifth-place finish from Tristan Sanders (6.91 meters, 22 feet, 8 inches), along with top three finishes from student-athletes in four other events.
In addition to Makalo being named the Region 6 Outdoor Track Athlete of the Meet, Barton’s Jaylon Calder was named the Region 6 Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Meet, and Butler’s Kamohelo Ramatsebe was named the Region 6 Men’s High Point Athlete of the Meet. Calder was the Region 6 Champion in the discus (55.08 meters, 180 feet, 8 inches) and added a third-place finish in the shot put (15.39 meters, 50 feet, 6 inches) and seventh in the hammer throw (50.05 meters, 164 feet, 2 inches) while Ramatsebe won Region 6 titles in the 1,500 meters (3:54.13) and 3,000 meter steeplechase (8:51.75) while running the second leg of Butler’s 4x800 meter Region 6 Championship team (7:35.64).
Coach of the Year awards were swept by Barton, with head coach David Schenek earning Head Coach of the Year honors while Emmanuel Dixon was named Assistant Coach of the Year.
