The Barton Community College track and field program picked up a pair of post-season awards following the conclusion of the indoor season distributed by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Voted on prior to the indoor NJCAA national championships by USTFCCCA member coaches, David Schenek was named the Central Region Women's Coach of the Year while sophomore thrower Kelsie Murrell-Ross was named the Women's Field Athlete of the Year.

In now his 16th year at the helm, Schenek's Cougars won seven events enroute to the program's 30th Region VI title back on February 19 in Pittsburg. Included in the championship was a pair of region championship records, one set by Murrell-Ross and the other set by Danae Nembhard in the 60m hurdles.

Named the Female Track Athlete of the Region VI Meet after scoring sixteen points in two events, Murrell-Ross left her name atop the meet and program record book in resetting the best shot put mark. Winning the event on her first toss of the afternoon, Murrell-Ross bettered that mark two more times before making the most of her last throw in uncorking a record 16.30m (53-05.75) to rank 3rd all-time in NJCAA history and best Fiona Richards' 2020 program top mark (16.28m, 53-05.00) by less than an inch. Murrell-Ross also had the NJCAA's fourth best weight throw during the season at 16.19m (53-01.50) but fell short of that mark at the region meet with a 15.60m (51-02.00) in placing third.

In addition to Schenek and Murrell-Ross' Central Region honors, Assistant Coach Emmanuel Dixon was also named the Region VI Championship Women's Assistant Coach of the Year in helping the Cougars' to a nation's No. 2 ranking into the national championship meet.

A few breaks here and there and national hardware would have returned back to Great Bend but overall it was another successful weekend for Cougars at the NJCAA Indoor National Championships held March 4 at Washburn University's Indoor Facility in Topeka, Kansas.

The 2nd ranked women claimed five individual titles in compiling 83 points, falling just 1.5 points shy of the national runner-up Cloud County's 84.5 total and a mere .5 points from South Plains' third place total of 83.5 points. The Cougars were solidly in 4th place by thirty-five points over fifth place Iowa Western as New Mexico captured the title with 116 points.

Overall the Cougars had five individual national champions among their fifteen scoring performances and chalked up twenty personal best efforts in the two days on the national stage.

The meet began with Ana Couto's national championship performance in the pentathlon, racking up 3945 points for the 2nd most in program history.

Murrell-Ross added both the shot put and weight throw to her mantle, winning the weight throw with a program fourth furthest 18.30m ( 60-00.50) mark which ranks 16th all-time in NJCAA history.

Also making a program impact, Nembhard avenged a photo-finish loss at the Region VI Championship to clock a program record and NJCAA's 3rd fastest 60m hurdle time of 8.24 seconds.

Brittania Ingram capped her indoor season as a Cougar with a triple jump title in a 12.50m (41-00.25) distance for the 10th furthest in program history and the 18th best all-time in the NJCAA, along with a 3rd place splash in the sand with a personal best 5.76m (18-10.75) long jump.

On the men's side, the last event of the weekend and an injury sent the Cougars to third place in the Region VI Championships to eventually wind up the indoor season fifth at the NJCAA Championships.

The Cougars posted 14 season or personal bests during region weekend with 20 scoring performances while making a pair of impacts in the program record book.

Fabian Campbell was the lone Cougar to grab an individual region title, winning the 600m in 1:18.91 and nearly pulling off another title in the meet's second-to-last-event of the 1000m by clocking a 2:28.41 in coming up .29 seconds shy.

A pair of the personal bests occurred in the weight throw, the first coming from Brandon Lloyd's second place 19.12m (62-09.00) mark to tie Max Alonso' 2010 toss for 4th best in program history. Christopher Young's best placed 6th in the event at 16.93m (55-07.00).

In the grueling seven-event heptathlon stretching across two days, Jalen McGee set personal or season bests in three of the events, capturing three other events in scoring a program 3rd best 4369 to finish 5th overall. McGee would also set a new personal best long jump mark on his then fifth event of the day, marking a 7.30m (21-11.50) dent in the sand for a 3rd place. Returning the next day for the final three events of the heptathlon, McGee would also later add a 4th place in the high jump before winding up his weekend on the 4x400m relay team.

At the national meet, Barton had ten scoring performances and chalked up nine personal best efforts in the two days.

Barton's lone individual title came in the shot put as Young marked a 17.95m to dethrone Coffeyville's Region VI Champion Trevor Gunzell by less than an inch for the national crown. Brandon Lloyd finished third behind the duo for the second straight meet in marking a 17.39m throw as Christopher Crawford came up short of the points with a 9th place 15.61m.

Lloyd got the better of his teammates in Saturday's weight throw, unleashing a personal best 18.47m (60-07.25) to tie for the program's 4th best all-time effort, Crawford placed 8th at 15.89m (52-01.75), with Young finishing 13th overall at 14.80m (48-06.75).

On the track the highest individual placing was Elijah Mosley's 3rd place by clocking a 400m personal best 46.97.

The squad compiled 28 USTFCCCA All-America awards by virtue of finishing among the top-8 in their events, including as a member of a relay team, at the 2023 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Indoor Track & Field Championships.

All-America Honors (Women)
The Barton women accumulated fifteen All-America performances between nine Cougars at the Indoor Nationals led by Murrell-Ross' dual national titles within the six individuals claiming a pair of top eight placings.

Kay-Lagay Clarke: Long Jump (7th), Triple Jump (4th) – 7pts
Ana Couto: Pentathlon (1st) – 10pts
Treneese Hamilton: Shot Put (2nd), Weight Throw (5th) – 12pts
Brittania Ingram: Long Jump (3rd), Triple Jump (1st) – 16pts
Efe Latham: Weight Throw (8th) – 1pt
Naiya Morgan: 200m (7th), 400m (7th) – 4pts
Kelsie Murrell-Ross: Shot Put (1st), Weight Throw (1st) – 20pts
Danae Nembhard: 60m (8th), 60m Hurdles (1st) – 11pts
Kayleigh Prentiss: Pentathlon (7th) – 2pts

All-America Honors (Men)
On the men's side, the Cougars totaled thirteen All-America award performances led by freshman Christopher Young's national title and four other multiple event placers.

Fabian Campbell: 600m (4th), 4x400m Relay (4th) – 10pts
Christopher Crawford: Weight Throw (8th) – 1pt
Jaden Howell: 4x400m Relay (4th) – 5pts
Brandon Lloyd: Shot Put (3rd), Weight Throw (2nd) – 14pts
Jeramiah Martin: 60m Hurdles (5th) – 4pts
Jalen McGee: High Jump (6th) – 3pts
Elijah Mosley: 400m (3rd), 4x400m Relay (4th) – 11pts
Almond Small: 200m (8th), 4x400m Relay (4th) – 6pts
Christopher Young: Shot Put (1st) – 10pts