Cowley Wins NJCAA Region 6 Women's Cross Country Titles

Led by three runners finishing in the top 10, Butler Community College edged out rival Hutchinson Community College to win the 2024 NJCAA Region 6 Division 1 Women's Cross Country Championship team title at the Kansas Veterans home in Winfield, Kansas on Friday, October 25th.

Joining the Grizzlies as NJCAA Region 6 team champions on the women's side was Cowley Community College as the Tigers were the lone NJCAA Division 2 team from NJCAA Region 6 to have a minimum of five runners compete to record a team score.

In the NJCAA Region 6 Division 1 team scoring, Butler scored a total of 63 points with the fourth, eighth, and 10th place runners in the 61-runner Division 1 field to edge out Hutchinson who finished with 64 total points and were led by NJCAA Region 6 Individual Champion Faith Jepchirchir.

Jepchirchir completed the 5,000-meter course with a time of 17:08.43 to win the event by over 12 seconds over Rosemary Arthur of Colby Community College. Eight total teams recorded scores in the meet, with Cloud County taking third (64 points) followed by Dodge City (70 points), Garden City (97 points), Barton (151 points), Neosho County (178 points), and Fort Scott (209 points).

The Butler women also earned the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference East Division title with 21 points after having the top three runners from the KJCCC East while Hutchinson beat Dodge City 52-54 in the KJCCC West Division team results. Cowley finished second in the KJCCC East with 34 points followed by Neosho County (81 points) and Fort Scott (105 points) while Cloud County followed Dodge City in third in the KJCCC West standings (56 points) along with Garden City (75 points), and Barton (104 points).

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

1. Faith Jepchirchir (Hutchinson) - 17:08.43
2. Rosemary Arthur (Colby) - 17:20.71
3. N Vanee Anchike (Cloud County) - 17:25.05
4. Meryeme Mai (Garden City) - 17:29.13
5. Elizabeth Hernandez (Butler) - 17:42.85
6. Jordyn Picolet (Hutchinson) - 17:48.80
7. Mercy Angaamchaab (Cloud County) - 18:04.81
8. Nonhlanhla Mabuza (Colby) - 18:34.33
9. Nontokozo Ncube (Cloud County) - 18:35.95
10. Jesica Mbhamali (Butler) - 18:39.40
11. Reid Harvey-McKean (Garden City) - 18:40.46
12. Alison Unruh (Butler) - 18:42.10
13. Sarai Chavez (Dodge City) - 18:53.93
14. Ivy Washington (Dodge City) - 18:54.69
15. Ava Washington (Dodge City) - 18:56.87