Barton women's track and field opens outdoor season at ESU Spring Invitational

Coming off a fourth place national finish in the indoor season, the Barton Community College women's track and field team opened the outdoor season this past Friday at the ESU Spring Invitational hosted by Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas.  The Lady Cougars had four NJCAA national qualifying performances on the Golden Oval of Witten Track inside Welsch Stadium, as Barton would have eleven Top-10 placings in finishing seventh amongst the eighteen competing teams.    

Chenelle Ricketts, who finished fifth in the national 400m, just missed Friday's gold medal by .005 seconds in clocking a personal best 24.26 for the top spot in the nation leading four Lady Cougars in the top nine of the event.  Rian Robinson placed sixth in a personal best 24.68, with freshmen Asjah Wallace seventh and Latoya Stewart ninth in 24.71 and 24.87 respectively. 

Ricketts, Robinson, and Wallace were joined by Sabrina Mason in the 4x100m relay as the team grabbed the early national lead clocking a meet best 46.56 to win by nearly a second over its nearest competitor.

Coming off a national indoor runner-up in the hurdles, Mahendra McWhite began her outdoor season with the early top mark in the 100m hurdles finishing tenth in 14.44.  Pentathlon national champion Ayesha Champagnie took seventh in the long jump with a fifth best national jump of 5.53m (18-01.75).

Barton's next action will come on Saturday as the Lady Cougars travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the Arkansas Spring Invitational.