By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The vast majority of Barton Community College's 60 national championships have come in track and field or cross country. It should come as no surprise, then, that former Cougar athletes have been a mainstay in past Olympic Games. In 2004, 13 former Cougars competed in Athens, bringing home more medals than 44 nations, including five golds. Cougar Track and Field Coach David Schenek calls the tradition a great recruiting tool.
"When you're recruiting really high-level athletes, you can use that and say we've had these Olympians come through here whether it be the jumps, the throws, the sprints, it doesn't matter," he said.
On the other hand, Schenek also said the school's success can be intimidating for young athletes. It's a balancing act for recruiters to determine when or when not to mention the 40-plus Olympians who have competed at Barton.
"There are kids who come in here and still are a little developmental and they're still trying to figure out what their full potential is," said Schenek. "We like having kids like that out here as well. We love to develop kids and see them move on and do some great things, whether they're Olympians or not."
Three former Cougars will compete soon in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. On Aug. 3, Jhonny Renteria will run in round one of the 100m dash for Columbia. Renteria set a Columbian national record of 9.97s in the event in June. That time would only tie him for third in Barton history, just ahead of American record-holder Tyson Gay, who posted a 10.01 while a Cougar in 2003. Gay's 2009 time of 9.69 remains the American record. Renteria saw limited time at Barton because of COVID but did place fifth in the indoor 60m dash to help the Cougars to a national runner-up finish in the 2019-20 season.
Joveinny Mota will represent Venezuela in round one of the 100m hurdles on Aug. 7. Mota was a four-time NJCAA All-American at Barton in 2019 and 2020. She set an indoor school record in the 60m hurdles, and her outdoor 100m hurdle time of 13.25s ranks No. 2 in BCC history. She is the only Lady Cougar since 1999 to run under 13.3s.
Mota went on to run for the University of Arkansas before transferring to the University of Kansas last year. In July, running at the NCAA West Prelims, Mota reset her Venezuelan national record in the 100m hurdles at 12.66s. Mota also represented Venezuela at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore. where she finished sixth in her round-one heat in 13.12.
In the field, Ana Da Silva will throw the shot put for Brazil on Aug. 8. She holds the BCC outdoor hammer record at 58.61m, and is third in school history in the outdoor shot (16.08m), both set in 2021. She was a two-time national shot put champion at Barton. After Barton, Da Silva earned indoor First-Team All-American honors at the University of Georgia in 2022, and won the SEC outdoor shot put title that same year. She sat out the 2024 season but will throw for the Bulldogs again in the 2024-25 season.
Fred Moudani was another Olympic hopeful. He set the BCC outdoor record in the shot put in 2021 and was national runner-up before moving on to the University of Cincinnati. He won the French national title in 2023 and placed 15th at the World Championships in Budapest last August but has been sidelined in 2024 with an injury.
"He was at the World Championships last year but he hurt his wrist so he was unable to compete this year," Schenek said. "He's from France so, for him, it's kind of bitter to see everything back home going on and he's unable to compete."