Trio of Barton track and field athletes earn weekly awards #GoBarton

Historic performances have earned a trio of Barton Community College track and field athletes various weekly award honors.

On the men's side, Trevon Hamer swept all three honors given from the KJCCC, the NJCAA national office, as well as, from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Hamer was named the NJCAA Region 6 Championships' Men's Field Athlete of the Week after winning the triple jump and taking second in the long jump with both marks setting personal bests. His mark of 16.25 meters in the triple jump tied a facility record at the Robert W. Plaster Center and also broke the meet record that was previously held by former Olympian and NJCAA Track and Field Hall of Fame member Melvin Lister.

The award was the second conference and national of the sophomore's season with the coaches association honor is his first and fourth Cougar from the indoor season since 2018 joining Tyrese Reid (2021), Davonte Burnett (2020), and Terence Ware (2018).

Keliza Smith headlines a pair of women's honors this week earning her second consecutive USTFCCCA award. Smith captured two events at the region championships, the first coming in the 60m dash clocking a 7.31 to win the title in a program fastest 8th fastest time.

Two hours later, Smith took on the 400m field for just the second time in her collegiate career and first attempt in over a year, beating the field by over a second to break Barton legend Inez Turner's 33-year Region 6 meet record set in 1992 by clocking a program 3rd fastest time of 53.77 which also jumped to the top of the current season nation's leaderboard.

Freshman Celine Riddle was not only named the Region 6 Championships' Women's Field Athlete of the Meet but earned the Week 7 KJCCC honor as well.

Riddle helped carry on the tradition of Barton's region dominance of the runway jumps by winning both the long and triple jump events to join Nia Robinson's 2022 feat as the last Cougar to win both.

In Saturday's long jump, Riddle's personal best 5.80m (19-00.25) edged out defending champion and teammate Chloe Perryman's 5.67m (18-7.25) in registering the second straight year the Cougars finished in the top two spots. The accomplishment also marked the fourth straight and fifth-of-the-last-six region championship meets that Barton stood on top of the medal stand. Previous winners were: Chloe Perryman ('24), Kay-Lagay Clarke ('23), Nia Robinson ('22), and Shemia Odane ('20).

On Sunday the Cougars again went 1-2 in the triple jump, Riddle winning Barton's 6th straight region title by marking an 11.78m (38-7.75) jump, just 1.5 inches ahead of fellow freshman Kymia Bridgett's personal best 11.74 (38-6.25). Previous winners were: Kay-Lagay Clarke ('24), Brittania Ingram ('23), Nia Robinson ('22), and Annia Ashley's consecutive titles ('21 and '20).

The trio join fellow qualifiers March 7-8 in Lubbock, Texas, for the 2025 NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held at Texas Tech University's Sports Performance Center.