Cloud County Men's Track Finishes Fifth at Washburn Rust Buster Classic
With 22 total teams and over 1,000 entries across 15 events, the Cloud County Community College men's track and field team had their entire team in action for the first time this season to total 45 points as part of a fifth-place finish at the 2024 Washburn University Rust Buster Classic inside the Washburn University Indoor Athletic Facility in Topeka, Kansas on Saturday, January 20th.
The 45-point total was the highest team total scored by an NJCAA school competing in the meet as the T-Birds edged out sixth-place finisher Butler Community College (44 points) and seventh-place finisher Barton (40 points). Winning the team title with 72 points was Missouri Southern State of NCAA Division II followed by NCAA Division I University of Central Arkansas (58 points), Washburn University (55.5 points, and Fort Hays State University (52 points).
A total of six national qualifying marks were set by T-Bird student-athletes on Saturday with three coming from field events and an additional three coming from events on the track. In field events, freshman Mohamed Bellhassen earned a fifth-place finish in the pole vault with a national qualifying mark of 4.66 meters (15 ft. – 3.5 in.) as the mark is currently the third-best pole vault mark in the NJCAA. The T-Birds managed to get a pair of national qualifying marks in the triple jump, with teammates Oageng Mdlela (14.65 meters, 48 f. – 0.75 in.) and Awakhiwe Ndlovu (14.63 meters, 48 ft. – 0 in.) finishing in second and third, respectively. Additional top-eight finishes in field events were seen from Trey Collins in the open field of the high jump (first-place finish, 1.96 meters – 6 ft. – 5 in.) along with a seventh-place finish from Corey Ottey (1.81 meters, 5 ft. – 11.25 in.). CCCC's final top-eight mark in field events came in the long jump with sophomore Lubo Zlatev recording a mark of 7.08 meters (23 ft. – 2.75 in.) to take seventh out of 50 athletes.
On the track, it was mid-distance and distance events accounting for the remaining three national qualifying marks on Saturday as a fifth-place finish from Kamogelo Thipe in the 800 meters came in a time of 1:55.10, the 11th-fastest time in the NJCAA this season. The mile run saw Nirmit Dahiya make his Cloud County debut and post a national qualifying time of 4:15.19 to take seventh while Siyabonga Mokgothu qualified for nationals in the 3,000 meters with a sixth-place finish and time of 8:28.59. Thipe also added a runner-up finish in the 600-yard run with a time of 1:12.49 for one of two runner-up finishes from CCCC on the track as the 4x400 meter relay team of Nichols Aninze, Ottey, Ndlovu, and Mdlela ran the second-fastest time of the day by finishing in 3:23.53. A second 4x400 meter relay team of Brandon Hutchinson, Bradley Nkosi, Alan Garcia, and Arne Roehl managed to finish seventh in a time of 3:30.11 for the 11th and final top-eight finish by CCCC on Saturday.
What's Next?
Cloud County heads south while staying in the Sunflower State to compete in the 2024 Herm Wilson Invitational hosted by Wichita State University. The meet, which will take place inside the Heskett Center, is scheduled to begin with multi-events on Thursday, January 25th before additional competition on Friday, January 26th, and a full day of action on Saturday, January 27th.