By TODD MOORE
Barton Sports Info
As most competitive meets go, Sunday was no exception as the 2023 Region VI Indoor Championship team title came down to the final event as an untimely injury left the 6th ranked Barton Community College men's track and field team settling for a third place overall standing.
The two-day competition boiled down to the 4x400m relay event at Pittsburg State University's Robert W. Plaster Center, Fort Scott edging Cloud County by .33 seconds in grabbing the team title accumulating 117 total points, just .50 points ahead of the T-Birds' runner-up.
Barton, who was leading the team total going into the final event, was dealt an unfortunate injury during the first leg of the race to fall behind the pack, but kept fighting through the remaining three baton handoffs in finishing 6th overall of the fourteen grouping race in sliding to the 3rd team overall placing with 114 points.
Fabian Campbell was the lone Cougar to grab an individual time, winning the 600m in 1:18.91 and nearly pulling off another title in the meet's second-to-last-event of the 1000m by clocking a 2:28.41 in coming up .29 seconds shy.
Elijah Mosley's bid for his second straight 400m indoor title was snatched at the finish line resulting in a .01 second loss by clocking a 47.27.
The Cougars conclude the indoor season in a couple of weeks competing at the 2023 NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held March 3-4 at Washburn University's Athletic Facility in Topeka, Kansas.