By BRANDON SMITH
Barton Sports Info
A pair of National Championships and six other top-5 finishes helped highlight another strong year for the Barton Community College athletic department as the Cougars finished among the top three in the annual NATYCAA Daktronics Cup standings for the seventh straight year.
Additionally, the year's accomplishment also earned Barton a fourth placing overall to finish inside the top four for the fourth time in five years in the Learfield Directors' Cup standings. Established in 2011-12, the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup also uses the same point system while combining all divisions for a final compiled standings.
Presented annually since 2004, the National Alliance of Two Year College Athletics Administrators (NATYCAA) recognizes the combined excellence of two-year college athletics based on success in championship competition across all sports.
Barton's compiled 173.0 points toward the Scholarship Division Cup standings during the 2023-2024 academic year, finishing runner-up behind winner Iowa Western Community College's 181.5 points and ahead of third place New Mexico Junior College's 162.5 total.
The nation's two-year colleges are divided into three divisions with Rowan College of South Jersey winning the Non-Scholarship Division and Mt. San Antonio College earning the State Association Division's top spot.
The Daktronics Cup recognizes the outstanding overall programs in each of the levels of the country with the NATYCAA organization representing two-year colleges. Each college is allowed to score points from their top-five programs per gender in the highest level of competition within their division. Each sport is treated equally so that the champion of each sport earns 20 points towards their Cup total. Second place finishes earn 19 points, third place earns 18 points, etc. This is the fifth year Daktronics has sponsored this award in conjunction with the NATYCAA.
The Cougar points were led by the pair of national championships claimed in women's indoor track and field, along with the program's first men's basketball title. Barton's next best finishes came with a national runner-up in women's outdoor track and field while the women's swimming team concluded the top-three finishes with a third placing. Four of Barton's teams placed fourth, on the men's side swimming, indoor and outdoor track and field while on the women's side, the bowling team. The Cougar's final point totals were rounded out by both tennis teams with a sixth-place finish on the men's side and seventh placing on the women's.
Competing at the national tournament but landing outside the program's five contributing highest placings were both men's and women's golf and soccer programs.
Daktronics Cup Standings (Complete Standings)
NJCAA Scholarship Division Top-10
1. Iowa Western CC, 181.5 points
2. Barton CC, 173
3. New Mexico JC, 162.50
4. College of Dupage, 158
5. Cowley College, 138.50
6. Iowa Central CC, 131.50
7. Salt Lake CC, 131.50
8. Hutchinson CC, 104.50
9. Indian Hills, 97.5
10. Eastern Florida State, 94.75
LEARFIELD Directors' Cup Standings – Top Ten (Complete Standings)
1. Rowan College of South Jersey, 184.90 points
2. Iowa Western CC, 184.25
3. Mt. San Antonio College, 183.50
4. Barton CC, 175.75
5. New Mexico JC, 165.25
6. Riverside City College, 162
7. College of Dupage, 160.75
8. Herkimer County CC, 147.40
9. Harper College, 147.40
10. Orange Coast College, 146.50