Barton Track and Field's Schenek, Henry, and Lawrence earn national awards #GoBarton

Head Coach David Schenek, Assistant Coach Remuro Henry, and student-athlete Sanjae Lawrence of the national champion the Barton Community College track and field team were honored today with national awards presented by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for NJCAA Division I.

In his eleventh season at the helm, Schenek becomes the first Barton head coach to earn the outdoor accolades after guiding the Cougars to the College's 56th national championship and first outdoor title since the 2004 season as Barton snapped South Plains' eleven year streak of reign atop the NJCAA Division I outdoor championship team total. Schenek's Cougars finished the three-day Championships in El Dorado with event championships in the 4x100m relay and shot put while also finishing in the top-eight of thirteen events. Coming off a heartbreaking title loss to South Plains in the indoor championship's final race, Schenek regrouped his squad going on to the KJCCC West Division, Region VI, and the most recent NJCAA title as the team posted twenty-four Top-10 NJCAA Division I Descending Order List throughout the season.

Alongside Schenek has been two outstanding young coaches, Mark'Quis Frazier earning the men's national indoor assistant coach of the year and now being joined by Henry in giving Barton three national coaching awards amongst the staff.

Earning the program's first outdoor national assistant coaching award, Henry primarily coaches the hurdles, jumps, and the 400 meters, as he and and his athletes played an integral role in Barton's championship accounting for 44 of the Cougars' 128 points at the national meet, with 26 of those points coming in the hurdles alone. At the Region VI Championships, his athletes totaled 86 of the team's 213 points while winning three individual titles. Heading into the national meet, Charlie Forbes and Kenroy Williams owned the top 110 and 400 meter hurdle times in NJCAA this season.

Lawrence continued the excellence of Barton's throwers under Schenek, joining Ricky Nelson, Jr. from last season to give the Cougars their second consecutive Men's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year.

Already the program's shot put record holder, the native of Westmoreland, Jamaica, recorded the seventh-best shot put mark in NJCAA history at the outdoor championships this past week-end in resetting his school record mark with a throw of 18.55m (60-10.50) while fellow countryman freshman Kevin Nedrick placed third at 17.17m (56-04.00). The Florida State University signee also placed second in the discus with a toss of 52.10m (170-11) to cap a season in which Lawrence won every single shot put competition outside of the Texas Relays while breaking the Region VI record in the event with a throw of 18.20m (60-4).

Story contribution by Curtis Akey of the USTFCCCA