Barton track and field grabs top regional and national awards, Cougars achieve 41 All-America performances #GoBarton

The Barton Community College track and field program capped another great outdoor season with a fair share haul of post-season awards distributed by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

The Cougars swept both the national Field Athletes of the Year, Treneese Hamilton becoming a two-time national award winner after receiving the same honor from the indoor season, while Christopher Young also becoming a two-time men's national award winner after winning the outdoor honor last season as well.

Additionally on the national level, Barton received recognition of its coaching staff, David Schenek named the Women's Head Coach of the Year with Emmanuel Dixon receiving the Women's Assistant Coach of the Year.

Prior to the outdoor championships, USTFCCCA member coaches cast their votes for region awards as the Central Region honor were also naturally fruitful for the program. Hamilton and Young were named the Field Athletes of the Year, Schenek the Women's Head Coach of the Year, and Dixon garnering both the Men's and Women's Assistant Coach of the Year recognition.

Most recently at the NJCAA Outdoor Championships, the Cougars posted 41 All-America combined performances leading to the women finishing national runner-up while the men placed 4th overall.

Treneese Hamilton – Women's Central Region and National Field Athlete of the Year
Hamilton earned the Central Region award after scoring 27 points in the throwing events at the Region VI Outdoor Championships. Winning both the javelin and shot put, Hamilton finished third in the discus and eighth in the hammer going to the national meet ranked Top-5 in both the shot put and javelin.

Scoring 18 points at indoor nationals back in early March, Hamilton followed with a 19-point performance at the national outdoor championships. Setting personal best marks in her three events, Hamilton broke the NJCAA all-time mark to win the shot put (17.46m, 57-03.50), was 4th in the hammer throw, and finished 5th in the javelin.

Hamilton's time in the program racked up four USTFCCCA honors, scored 60 points across four national competitions in placing among the top five nine times including both the indoor and outdoor national shot put crowns.

The recipient of the Athletic Department's Female Athlete of the Year Award, Hamilton also leaves her mark as the NJCAA's national shot put outdoor record holder, two additional marks on the NJCAA All-Time list, and four performances in the program's top ten chart.

Indoor: 1st in Shot Put (16.39m, 53-09.25 *2nd NJCAA All-Time **NJCAA Meet Record), 3rd in Weight Throw (18.73m, 61-05.50 *13th NJCAA All-Time)
Outdoor: 1st in Shot Put (17.46m, 57-03.50 *NJCAA All-Time, **NJCAA Meet Record), 4th in Javelin (45.18m, 148-03).

Christopher Young – Men's Central Region and National Field Athlete of the Year
Young was named the Region Field Athlete of the Year for the third time in his Barton two-year career, two from the outdoor season and one from this past indoor season.

At the Region VI Outdoor Championships, Young scored 36 points by winning both the hammer and javelin while placing runner-up in the discus throw and shot put. Headed to the national meet, Young sat atop the shot put season's best and ranked second nationally in the discus throw.

Winning his second straight National Field Athlete of the Year award, Young scored 34 points at the 2024 NJCAA Division I Championships including individual titles on personal best efforts in the shot put to miss the program record by one inch and a 9th program furthest distance to win the hammer throw. Young also posted a season best for a javelin runner-up placing and led three Cougars in the top eight of the discus throw with a 3rd placing.

Young acquired five USTFCCCA honors in his Barton career, piled up a whopping 94 points at four national competitions in placing among the Top-3 eleven times including six individual crowns, three in the shot put and one in each of the weight throw, hammer throw, and javelin.

Like Hamiliton, Young was also voted the Athletic Department's Athlete of the Year Award on the men's side, concluding his two-year career with five marks of his six indoor and outdoor events on the NJCAA All-Time list, as well as, on the program's top ten chart.

Indoor: 1st in Shot Put (18.67m, 61-03.00 *4th NJCAA All-Time) and 9th in Weight Throw (18.70m, 61-04.25 *22nd NJCAA All-Time)
Outdoor: 2nd in Shot Put (18.76m, 61-0.75 *7th NJCAA All-Time), 9th in Hammer Throw (56.61m, 185-09), 3rd in Discus Throw (59.93m, 196-07 *10th NJCAA All-Time), and 3rd in Javelin (66.98m, 219-09 *11th NJCAA All-Time).

David Schenek – Women's Central Region and National Head Coach of the Year
Earning the indoor national award as well, the central and national outdoor honors give Coach Schenek his 30th coaching award from the USTCCCA.

Schenek led the Lady Cougars to its second straight and 33rd Region VI title back in early May as the team won seven events in piling up 168 points. The performance earned the Cougars a No. 1 national ranking on 30 national qualifying performances with five national leaders on the season's performance list.

Having won the College's then-59th national title in the indoor season earning Coach Schenek the national coaching honor, the Cougars challenged for the outdoor title but came up five points shy at the end in settling for runner-up.

Overall the squad had 15 scoring events with two of Barton's four individual crowns breaking program, national meet, and the NJCAA's all-time best performances coming from Schenek's field athletes Hamilton in the shot put and freshman Cedricka Williams in the discus.

Emmanuel Dixon – Women's Central Region and National Assistant Coach of the Year, Men's Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year
Overlooked in the indoor season, Dixon swept both the men's and women's region honors marking his third straight region recognition of the outdoor season.

On the women's side, Dixon helped the Cougars to 19 national qualifying performances across 12 events, including the national leaders in the 100m, long jump, and heptathlon. Scoring 118 of the team's 168 points, Dixon's athletes powered the Cougars to its second straight and 33rd overall region outdoor title.

Helping the squad vault to the nation's top ranked team heading into the national championships, Dixon's athletes accounted for 41 of Barton's 93 points in the runner-up finish to earn his first National Assistant Coach honor. Amongst the points were national titles coming from Jazmine Williamson in the long jump and Ana Couto in the heptathlon.

Dixon also was honored with his first coaching award on the men's side in being named the regional assistant coach of the year coaching 13 athletes to national qualifying performances in the sprints, hurdles and middle distances going on to contribute 61 of the team's 127 points in the region runner-up finish.

All-America Performances (Women)
The Barton women accumulated eighteen All-America performances between eleven Cougars at the Outdoor Nationals led by Hamilton and sprinter Keliza Smith scoring in three events each compiling 19 and 18 points respectively.

Kay-Lagay Clarke: 100m Hurdles (8th), Triple Jump (6th) – 4pts
Ana Couto: Heptathlon (1st) - 10pts
Treneese Hamilton: Shot Put (1st), Javelin (5th), Hammer Throw (4th) – 19pts
Sanae Hassnaoui: 1500m (3rd) – 6pts
Chloe Perryman: Long Jump (7th), 4x100m Relay (5th) – 6pts
Ivanilda Semedo: Discus Throw (2nd) – 8pts
Ashley Shaw: 4x100m Relay (5th) – 4pts
Keliza Smith: 100m (2nd), 200m (3rd), 4x100m Relay (5th) – 18pts
Maria Umoibang: 4x100m Relay (5th) – 4pts
Cedricka Williams: Discus Throw (1st) – 10pts
Jazmine Williamson: High Jump (3rd), Long Jump (1st) – 16pts

All-America Performances (Men)
The Barton men totaled twenty-three All-America award performances between thirteen Cougars led by Young's four scoring events for 34 points, Hamer's 15 points in two jumping events, and Christopher Crawford adding 10 points across three events.

Wanyae Belle: 4x100m Relay (4th) – 5pts
Hamza Belkhalfi: 4x800m Relay (4th) – 5pts
Malachi Carter: 4x100m Relay (4th) – 5pts
Corlando Chambers: 4x400m Relay (7th), 4x800m Relay (4th) –7pts
Jasiah Clapp: 4x800m Relay (4th) – 5pts
Christopher Crawford: Shot Put (6th), Discus Throw (6th), Hammer Throw (5th) – 10pts
Trevon Hamer: Long Jump (4th), Triple Jump (1st) – 15pts
Ricardo Hayles: Shot Put (8th), Discus Throw (5th) – 5pts
Adrian Nethersole: 4x400m Relay (7th), 4x800m Relay (4th) – 7pts
Manjot Singh: 4x400m Relay (7th) – 2pts
Jayden Singleton: 4x100m Relay (4th) – 5pts
Christopher Young: Shot Put (1st), Discus Throw (3rd), Javelin (2nd), Hammer Throw (1st) – 34pts
Revon Williams: 4x100m Relay (4th), 4x400m Relay (7th) – 7pts