By TODD MOORE
Barton Sports Info
Following a ninety minute wait at the conclusion of the 2023 KJCCC/Region VI Championships held this weekend in Coffeyville, the 3rd ranked Barton Community College men's track and field team emerged in capturing its 24th Region Outdoor Championship.
Issues regarding the second-to-last 5000m race held up event placings and subsequent team scores creating the long delay keeping the Cougars in suspense of its second outdoor region title in the past three seasons.
Barton accumulated 143 points in the three days of competition at Veterans Memorial Stadium, one more than runner-up Cloud County Community College and a distance ahead of 3rd place and host Coffeyville Community College's 118 points.
The Thunderbirds garnered the KJCCC West crown with 221 points, Barton close behind with 214 points while Hutchinson Community College placed 3rd with 100 points.
Next up is the season finale May 18-20 as the Cougars head to Hobbs, New Mexico, for the NJCAA Division I Outdoor Championships.
Christopher Young emerged as the Men's High Point earner of the meet, accumulating 30 points across three events to beat out fellow Cougar Jalen McGee's 25 points in a workman-like four events in two days.
Young won the javelin on his first throw of 62.56m, finished runner-up in the shot put at 17.03m, posted a personal best 53.15m hammer throw mark for 3rd place, and was 3rd amongst five facility record breakers in the discus.
Christopher Crawford was runner-up in the Stadium impacted event, moving from 3rd best in program history to take over the top all-time position with a 59.93m throw. Young vaulted from 6th to 2nd on the program list just a thirteen inches shorter with a 59.59m while Brandon Lloyd was bumped from the top spot slipping to 3rd in Cougar history from his 58.61m mark last year, settling for 4th placing on Friday at 55.43m.
The trio placed 2-3-4 in Saturday's shot put, Young at 17.03m, Crawford at 16.91m, and Lloyd marking at 16.46m. Lloyd also placed 6th in the hammer at 47.89m with Crawford grabbing the 8th spot with a 46.61m twirl-n-throw.
McGee had a busy weekend in challenging Young for the high point earner, going through 110m hurdle prelims on Friday before placing 3rd in the long jump on a personal best 7.33m sand splash.
On Saturday, McGee began his day rising to a personal best 2.02m to tie for the top high jump placing but had to settle for runner-up on tie break procedures. Moving over to the triple jump, McGee again posted a personal best 15.04m while becoming one of three new Cougar national qualifiers with the mark in finishing sixth. McGee then capped his day on his fourth national ticket event, finishing 2nd in the 110m hurdles at 14.29 after fellow Cougar Devoy Pinnock initially won the event at 14.00 seconds but was controversially disqualified. The DQ moved McGee up the standings as did Jeramiah Martin into the 7th overall placing. Martin had previously clocked a personal best 14.49m in the prelims to become nationally qualified but pulled up short down the stretch to officially clock a 16.01, earning the Cougars a valuable two points for finishing the race.
Eighty minutes later Manjot Singh earned Barton's third nationally qualified performance, shaving three seconds off his previous 400m hurdle best to place 8th overall at 54.86.
Like the women, the men also enjoyed and took advantage of wind aided conditions as the field timed multiple records within the facility, within respective programs, and the national all-time list.
Almond Small led the Cougar sprinters including a runner-up 200m time of 20.32 to leap into 5th place of Barton's all-conditions top ten list. In the earlier 100m race, Small clocked a 10.10 on the straight-away for the 11th fastest program time, just .09 seconds out of a top ten distinction.
Aaron Charles also had a pair of personal bests, both occurring in the prelims with a 10.28 in the 100m before a 20.78 in the 200m. Saturday's finals didn't fare as well, but like Martin, Charles endured pull-ups in both the events to cross 8th in gaining two more critical team points.
Defending 400m champion Elijah Mosley again captured the title, enduring both a pros and cons of wind conditions to earn the crown on a facility record 46.63 with Revon Williams a second behind for runner-up at 47.57.
The sprinters began Saturday's action in the 4x100m relay, the tandem of Mosley, Charles, Small, and Jayden Singleton placing second with a 40.30.
Barton capped its day and secured the Championship in the final event winning the 4x400m relay on a nation's fifth best time of 3:08.79. Williams got the baton rolling in handing off to 800m runner-up Fabian Campbell, with Small taking over on the third leg giving Barton the lead for good as Mosley took the 400m for a two second victory over Cloud County.