The Barton Community College track and field teams added eight more national qualifying performances to the program's early season success list competing on Saturday at the Texas Tech Red Raider Invitational held in Lubbock, Texas.
The Cougars' next meet is in Pittsburg, Kansas, for a rare Sunday competition held at Pittsburg State University's Robert W. Plaster Center.
Although early in the indoor season, Barton took over the top spots on the national qualifying chart in four events while six other performances landed in the top three.
The Cougar men led the way this week in program bragging rights by earning five of the new qualifiers in addition to another performance improving on the previous qualifying mark.
Highlighting the one-day meet was Ja'Kwan Hale in bettering the fourteen 400m entrant race to take the meet by over a half second of his nearest competitor in a program fifth best clocking of 46.92. Jevon O'Bryant hit the national leaderboard in the second spot by finishing third in the meet at 47.57.
Also having a solid day on the oval was Tyrese Reid in the 600 yard run as the sophomore's 600m conversion from 1:11.13 to 1:19.67 took over the nation's lead and landed just outside the program's 600y top ten by .04 of a second.
Fabio Hessling surpassed his Coffeyville Winter Invite weight throw title by over two meters to place sixth Saturday with a nation leading 18.48m (60-07.00) mark in ranking. The mark was just five inches from his program seventh best heave but within a top twenty throw historically.
Also in the field events, defending indoor long jump champion Shakwon Coke made his 2021 debut on Saturday, placing fifth behind NCAA Division I athletes with a nation's third best leap of 7.27m (23-10.25).
The final new national qualifying performance was the 4x400m relay team debut as the tandem of Gamali Felix, O'Bryant, Telron Bradford Jr., and Hale passed the baton in a national second best 3:16.41 in placing fourth in the event.
On the women's side, all four national qualifying performances occurred in the jump events. Nia Robinson, the reigning KJCCC female field athlete of the week, bettered her national leading triple jump to 12.58m (41-03.25) for third place while Annia Ashley came in fifth with a nation's second best 12.49m (40-11.75). The duo also owns a pair of slots on the program's all-time list with Ashley's career best sits in sixth, just 2.5 inches better than Robinson's Saturday performance.
The duo battled it out in the high jump as well in tying for a nation's second best 1.63m (5-04.25) height with Ashley getting the eighth spot on fewer attempts.
Complete Red Raider Invitational results