The Barton Community College track and field team exceeded last year's haul in recording a combined fifty All-American performances recognized by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The awards are earned finishing among the top eight in his/her respective event, including as a member of a relay team, accomplished at the 2018 NJCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field National Championships held May 17-19 in El Dorado, Kansas.
The national champion Cougar men piled up thirty-five All-American honors to lead all teams while the Lady Cougars earned fifteen in their fourth place national finish.
The Cougars' All-American performances accounted for 37% of the Region VI's ninety-five awards as the region hauled in 38% of the 248 national honors.
Region VI women accounted for 30% of the 242 national honors with Barton accounting for 21% of the region's 73 honors.
Three sophomore ladies Fiona Barnes, Amanda Carty, and Olivian Jackson each garnered two All-America honors with freshman Nijah Roberson also taking home two honors.
On the men's side, three Cougars garnered three All-American honors in sophomore sprinters Samson Colebrooke and Christian Lyon along with freshman field athlete Kevin Nedrick, while seven other Cougars earned two All-American honors each.
The awards and national championship closed out a banner season for the Barton track and field program consisting of regional and national individual awards to go along with multiple school record breaking performances.
One of the seven Cougar men to earn a pair of honors was Sanjae Lawrence, who increased his school record in the shot put with a program best and national champion throw of 18.55m (60-10.50) during Friday's competition. One day later in his final event as a Cougar, the Florida State University fell short of his personal and program 6th best throw in the discus but did conclude his stellar two-year career with a national runner-up placing.
Lyon made national news in week three of the season, blistering the 100m track in 10.00 seconds to etch his name as the third fastest man in Barton history. The Liberty University signee also tied McKinely West's 2017 season 20.49 time to also rank 10th on the program's 200m list. Lyon placed 3rd and 7th in those two events at the national competition, in addition to, leading off the champion 4x100m relay squad to accumulate three All-American honors.
Colebrooke was also an integral member of the relay squad, being joined by Terence Ware and freshman Dartez Hamlin to clock a champion 39.78 time. The Purdue University signee picked up two more All-American awards with fifth place finishes coming in the 200m and 4x400m relay squad.
In addition to Lyon's program record book accomplishments on the track, the Cougars clocked three more Top-10 times in the hurdles throughout the season with Charlie Forbes' 13.62 110m hurdle time landing in the 6th spot while freshman Kenroy Williams flirted with the school 400m hurdle record with a second best 50.36 time and Michale Reyes clocking a 9th best 51.43 time. All three hurdle specialist earned All-American honors at the national meet with Forbes placing 4th while Williams and Reyes finished 3rd and 4th respectively.
As been the case throughout Head Coach David Schenek's guidance, the Cougars continued to rewrite the program record book during the season. In addition to Lawrence's increasing his shot put school record mark, Nedrick marked the program's fourth best toss earlier in the season and fell just shy of the distance at the national meet to finish third. The freshman from Jamaica chalked up his second All-American honor in placing behind Lawrence in the discus for the third spot, launching a personal best and program 9th best 51.39m (168-07) throw. Nedrick wasn't done putting his name amongst the Cougar best, concluding the season with a personal best and program 9th farthest javelin throw to earn his third national honor with a 57.90m (189-11) 4th place national finish.
Placing third nationally in the hammer throw, Enrique Martinez didn't have his best national competition day but assaulted the school record book throughout his two years to leave Barton as the top thrower with a record shattering 61.13m (200-06) mark. The feat not only reset the program's best for the third straight season, but the 2018 Outstanding Barton graduate recipient and Manhattan College signee reset his home country El Salvador's national record. Finishing as the national runner-up ahead of Martinez, fellow sophomore Graham Sokol concluded his Cougar career with the All-American honor by unleashing a 56.64m (185-10) throw to land in the 5th spot of the program's history.
For the women, they saw Maines dot her name throughout the top ten shot put list during the season until saving her best for last, surpassing the school record by over a foot and a half with a 16.46m (54-00.00) toss for a national runner-up finish.
Also hitting the record books in their final outing donning the Lady Cougar uniform, Carty's national championship 6.25m (20-6.25) mark was 9th best in program history as was Sanders' third place 11.33 100m clocking. Carty also just missed the triple jump top ten list at the national championships with a career best 12.56m (41-2.50) in finishing sixth. Freshman Shyledeen Smith placed third on the national stage, which is in the top twenty but was shy of her program 3rd best mark set at the Bethel Invite of 50.80m (166-08.00). Another freshman, Kameliah Style, who finished outside the national All-American list with a 10th place hammer throw, hit the Barton record books two weeks prior at the Region VI Championships with a 46.50m (152-07).
Women: (Name, Yr, Event, Placing):
Fiona Barnes (SO) – Long Jump (5) and Heptathlon (1)
Cadeebra Calcote (FR) – 4x400m Relay (2)
Amanda Carty (SO) – Long Jump (1) and Triple Jump (6)
Mirena Goncalves (SO) - 10,000 Meters (8)
Olivian Jackson (SO) – 100m Hurdles (5) and 400m Hurdles (3)
Latavia Maines (FR) – Shot Put (2)
Nijah Roberson (FR) – 200m (8) and 4x400m Relay (2)
Keosha Sanders (SO) - 100 Meters (3)
Azan Sargusingh (FR) – 4x400m Relay (2)
Shyledeen Smith (FR) – Discus Throw (3)
Latoya Stewart (SO) – 4x400m Relay (2)
Men: (Name, Yr, Event, Placing):
Samson Colebrooke (SO) – 200m (5), 4x100m Relay (1), 4x400m Relay (5)
Brandon Felix (SO) – 4x400m Relay (5) and 4x800m Relay (5)
Bradley Fleurinord (SO) - Long Jump (7)
Charlie Forbes (SO) – 110m Hurdles (4)
Adriano Gumbs (FR) - 4x400m Relay (5) and 4x800 Relay (5)
Dartez Hamlin (FR) – 4x100m Relay (1)
Marquise Hill (SO) – 400m Hurdles (5)
Travis Hugg (FR) – Long Jump (3)
Tallan James (FR) – 1500m (8) and 4x800m (5)
Sanjae Lawrence (SO) - Shot Put (1) and Discus Throw (2)
Christian Lyon (SO) - 100 Meters (3), 200m (7), and 4x100m Relay (1)
Enrique Martinez (SO) – Hammer Throw (3)
Hilton McClain, Jr. (SO) - 4x400m Relay (5)
Alvin McCray (SO) - Long Jump (5) and Triple Jump (4)
Kemarni Mighty (SO) – 4x400m Relay (5)
Kevin Nedrick (FR) – Shot Put (3), Discus Throw (3), and Javelin Throw (4)
Michale Reyes (SO) – 400m Hurdles (4)
Willie Rodgers (SO) – Triple Jump (8)
Graham Sokol (SO) – Hammer Throw (2)
Stephon Torrence (FR) – 110m Hurdles (3)
Terence Ware (SO) – 100m (5) and 4x100m Relay (1)
Kenroy Williams (FR) – 400m Hurdles (3) and 4x400m Relay (5)
Complete USTFCCCA All-American List