By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Mark it seven straight years that Barton Community College has finished as one of the top three most successful athletic programs in the country.
The National Alliance of Two Year College Athletics Administrators (NATYCAA) judges all community colleges across the country on how their teams finish at national competitions. Barton Athletic Director Trevor Rolfs said the Cougars athletic department finished second in the nation for the 2023-2024 school year.
"Congratulations really needs to go to our coaching staffs and staff members," said Rolfs. "Certainly, you don't win if you don't have good student athletes that buy in. Most student athletes that come here understand the success levels we expect at Barton. They're willing to put in the work to make those successes happen."
Each college is allowed to score points from their top-five programs, per gender, at their national championships. The champion in each sport is given 20 points, second place 19 points, and so forth. Barton finished behind Iowa Western Community College as the college in Council Bluffs won their third consecutive NATYCAA Cup.
"I continue to be blessed with really good people," said Rolfs. "You don't have success without good people. You don't have success without hard work. You don't have the successes we have academically, athletically and socially unless coaches have the mindset of the mission and push their kids to be successful in all of those areas."
Barton athletes also ranked third out of the 21 community colleges in Kansas for overall GPA during the 2023-2024 school year.
The press release can be found at nacda.com.