Extending the program's streak to ten straight Top-5 finishes, the Barton Community College women's track and field team placed fourth overall this weekend at the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held Friday and Saturday inside Washburn University's Sneed Indoor Athletic Facility in Topeka.
The Cougars totaled 60 points, finishing just two behind Odessa College for third-place hardware. Iowa Western Community College racked up 111 points to claim the national title, followed by New Mexico Junior College with 89.
Leading Barton's performance were a pair of repeat national champions in Alexia Walker and Asharria Ulett, as the Cougars produced 11 scoring performances while recording eight personal bests and four season-best marks across the two-day meet.
Walker successfully defended her national title in the pentathlon, capturing her second straight championship with a winning total of 3,564 points to become a two-time NJCAA Indoor Pentathlon Champion. In building her winning total, Walker claimed the pentathlon's high jump victory while adding runner-up finishes in both the 60-meter hurdles and long jump events. She later added to Barton's team score elsewhere in the meet with a sixth-place finish in the open long jump and by running a leg on the Cougars' fifth-place 4x400-meter relay team.
Ulett added Barton's second national title of the meet in the 60-meter hurdles, successfully defending her crown with a personal-best 8.25 to become a two-time NJCAA Indoor Champion in the event. The mark improved her previous best of 8.29 and moved her to second-fastest in Barton program history. Camoy Binger, whose 8.26 earlier in the season now ranks third in program history, finished runner-up in 8.40.
Celine Riddle provided one of the meet's most productive performances in the field events, totaling 14 team points with a runner-up finish in the long jump at 5.95m (19-6.25) and a third-place effort in the triple jump with a season-best leap of 12.25m (40-2.25). Riddle's 14 points represented the second-highest individual scoring total among all female field athletes at the national meet, accounting for nearly a quarter of Barton's 60 team points.
Natasha Fox turned in a breakthrough performance in just her second collegiate pentathlon appearance, placing fourth overall with a personal-best 3,222 points. The sophomore recorded three personal-best marks during the competition in the 60-meter hurdles, high jump, and shot put, and later returned to the track to compete in the open 600 meters.
Additional field event scoring came from Jahmeka Brown, placing fifth in the high jump at 1.66m (5-5.25), and Zadie Mackey finishing seventh in the weight throw with a personal-best mark of 16.73m (54-10.75), missing the program's all-time Top-10 list by just three inches. Shamoyea Morris also recorded a personal-best toss of 16.26m (53-4.25) in the event.
Closing out the meet, Barton's 4x400-meter relay team of Walker, Thomphang Basele, Maya Maldonado, and Narissa McPherson finished fifth in a season-best time of 3:47.49 to round out the Cougars' scoring.
The Cougars will now take some time off before beginning preparations for the outdoor season, traveling to Lafayette, Louisiana, for the Louisiana Classics on March 20-21.
Pentathlon: 2-Time CHAMPION Alexia Walker (3564pts), 4th Natasha Fox (PB 3222pts)
60m Hurdles: 2nd Alexia Walker (8.87), 5th Natasha Fox (PB 9.18)
High Jump: 1st Alexia Walker (1.59m, 5-02.50), 4th Natasha Fox (PB 1.56m, 5-01.25)
Shot Put: 10th Alexia Walker (9.45m, 31-00.00), 13th Natasha Fox (PB 8.97m, 29-05.25)
Long Jump: 2nd Alexia Walker (5.67m, 18-07.25), 12th Natasha Fox (4.81m, 15-09.50)
800m: 4th Natasha Fox (2:30.22), 5th Alexia Walker (2:32.70)
60m Hurdles: 2-TIME CHAMPION Asharria Ulett (PB 8.25 *2nd Fastest Program History), RUNNER-UP Camoy Binger (8.40 *Already has program 3rd fastest time of 8.26), 19th Alexia Walker (9.12)
60m: 16th Thomphang Basele (7.61), 23rd Kayda Austin (SB 7.69), 33rd Sethunya Majama (7.80)
200m: 13th Thomphang Basele (PB 24.33), 17th Kayda Austin (SB 24.67)
400m: DNF Narissa McPherson (56.46 in prelims qualifying for Finals)
600m: 15th Natasha Fox (1:37.10)4x400m Relay: 5th 3:47.49 *Season Best (Alexia Walker, Thomphang Basele, Maya Maldonado, and Narissa McPherson)
Long Jump: RUNNER-UP Celine Riddle (5.95m, 19-06.25), 6th Alexia Walker (5.71m, 18-08.75), 21st Makiya Mosley (4.93m, 16-02.25)
Triple Jump: 3rd Celine Riddle (SB 12.25m, 40-02.25)
High Jump: 5th Jahmeka Brown (1.66m, 5-05.25), 9th Alexia Walker (1.56m, 5-01.25)
Shot Put: 14th Shamoye Morris (12.02m, 39-05.25), 16th Zadie Mackey (11.87m, 38-11.50)
Weight Throw: 7th Zadie Mackey (PB 16.73m, 54-10.75 *Just missed program Top-10 by 3 inches), 9th Shamoyea Morris (PB 16.26m, 53-04.25), 14th Shamoye Morris (PB 13.98m, 45-10.50)