Barton Athletics to induct three into its Sports Hall of Fame

Barton Hall of Fame graphic

Barton Community College will induct Gene Butler, Jeff Christy, and Ryan "Pete" Manely to its Sports Hall of Fame this Saturday, January 24.  The Class of 2015 inductees will be recognized and honored at a 3:00 p.m. induction ceremony to be held in the Kirkman Activity Center located on the Barton Campus in Great Bend, Kansas.  Induction ceremony is free and open to the public.  Public attendance also encouraged in honoring the inductees in between the women’s and men’s basketball games versus Pratt Community College later that evening.

Butler and Christy are former players for the Cougars, Butler a member of the 1990-92 men’s basketball teams while Christy was on the 2002-04 baseball teams.  Manely will carry the distinction into the Hall as the first student-athletic trainer to receive the honor. 

Schedule of Events

Saturday, January 24, 2015 at Barton Community College

3:00 p.m. – Induction Ceremony located on lower level of the Kirkman Activity Center on the Barton campus.  Admission is free and public is encouraged to attend.  Induction Ceremony Program *Live web streaming will also be available and can be found here
5:30 p.m. – Barton women’s basketball versus Pratt Community College
*7:20 p.m. - *Approximate time. Inductees will be presented with Hall of Fame plaques in a brief ceremony between the women and men’s basketball contests.
7:30 p.m. – Barton men’s basketball versus Pratt Community College

Gene Butler
In the words of Barton Hall of Fame coaching legend Dan McGovern, Gene Butler was “the straw that stirred the drink” for the Cougars.   Directing two of the most prolific Barton men’s basketball teams in school history through 1990-1992, Butler’s ability to destroy a defensive press and set up his teammates left Barton atop the school record books in single game, season, and career categories.

Breaking a thirteen year old school record his freshman season, the 5’8” left handed point guard from Wichita East High School in Wichita, Kansas, dished out a record 200 assists averaging 5.3 per game leading Barton to its first ever appearance in the NJCAA Tournament.  Shattering school records in points scored and wins, including a 16-1 record at home, the Cougars averaged 104.4 points per game in route to a 3rd place national finish at 33-5.

With Butler’s sophomore squad only returning four players, one of the quickest point guards in Cougar lore dished out a school record eighteen assists November 23, 1991, against nationally ranked Seminole Junior College and surpassed his season top mark finishing with 253 assists for an 8.1 per game average.

Throughout his career Butler made great players even greater, dishing dimes to three top seven scorers in Barton history.  Leaving Barton atop the charts in assists, Butler still owns the single game mark while ranking third and seventh in single season efforts and second overall with a 6.57 dish per game average.

Following 1992 Barton graduation, Butler continued his student-athlete career at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, receiving a 1995 Bachelors in Recreation Management. 

Following his graduation Butler began his career with the Boy Scouts of America in Kansas City, Missouri.  Still leading youth today within the Boy Scouts organization as a Business Development Specialist, Butler now resides in Frisco, Texas, working in the national office.   Married to his high school sweetheart since 1997, Butler and his wife Carmen (Pitts) have a four year old son Grant.  

Jeff Christy
Jeff Christy’s success has reached all levels of his playing and coaching career.  Playing catcher and earning All-Conference honors in both the 2003 and 2004 seasons, Christy ranks as one of the top players in Cougar history then excelling at the collegiate level and five years in the professional ranks.

In his sophomore season of earning a 1st Team All-Jayhawk selection, Christy played all fifty-seven games leading the Cougars with a .400 batting average, hits (74), doubles (27), runs batted in (49), and on-base percentage (.460) while playing solid behind the dish at a .997 fielding percentage and throwing out seventeen would be base runners.  Christy’s hits rank as the seventh best in a single season while his twenty-seven doubles stand atop the chart and propelled him fifth all-time.  

A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, Christy returned to his hometown University of Nebraska to continue his playing career.   Catching a school-record 64 games as a junior hitting .236 with 32 RBIs in Nebraska’s 2005 World Series season, Christy earned honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors his senior season hitting .284 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in leading the Huskers to 42 wins and a No. 6 national seed.

A 2002 Major League Baseball draft pick out of Lincoln Southeast High School, Christy was again selected in the draft going in the sixth round by the Minnesota Twins and becoming the highest selection for a Husker catcher since 1985. Christy reached Triple-A Rochester in 2008 and 2009 before spending the 2010 season with the Wichita Wingnuts of the American Association being named an All-Star hitting .289 with 40 runs, 82 hits, 12 doubles, one triple, one home run and 39 RBIs.

In 2011, Christy began his coaching career by assisting Wichita State University Head Coach Gene Stephenson, as the Shockers went 39-26 and reached the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Named a volunteer assistant coach at Nebraska during the summer of 2011, Christy assists with the offense, serves as first base coach, and oversees the Husker’s catchers annually developing them into one of the top units in the Big Ten Conference.

Earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska in 2007, Christy and his wife Michelle married in 2007 welcoming the birth of their daughter Quinn in 2013.

Ryan "Pete" Manely
Ryan "Pete" Manely has the distinguished honor of being the first Athletic Trainer inducted into the prestigious Hall.  Serving as a Barton student-athletic trainer during the 1992-1994 seasons, Manely continued his education to become Barton’s fifth alumni to become a certified athletic trainer.

Named the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Athletic Trainer of the Year for the 2010-11 academic year, Manely also currently serves as President of the Athletic Trainers Association (ATA) Board. 

Currently at Sterling College, Manely finds himself surrounded with his two passions of working with students in a family environment.   Working his way through the ranks, Manely now serves as the Director of Athletic Training, Associate Professor of Athletic Training, Co-Chair of the Exercise Science Department, and has been named as Sterling College's first Director of Graduate Programs.

A graduate of Smith Center High School, the Lebanon, Kansas, native left for Charleston Southern University after his time at Barton achieving his Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education with emphasis in Athletic Training with a minor in History in 1996.   Manely’s education continued on from Charleston to Ohio University for his Masters in Physical Education and Sports Medicine.