Alan Clark begins his third season leading the women’s basketball program following four years as assistant coach for the Lady Cougars.

This past season the Lady Cougars finished 16-14 and tied for 8th place in the rugged Jayhawk Conference with a 13-13 record. Two freshman earned post-season recognition with Jaylin Stapleton earning 1st team All-Conference and All-Region VI honors while Taylor Regan landed on the 2nd team conference squad.

For the second straight year the Lady Cougars assaulted the program’s historical record book in both team and individual categories. The squad hit the books in four single game and season rankings while resetting the best single game 3-pt Field Goal percentage and the season’s top mark from the free throw stripe (73.4%). Individually, ten single game performances fell on the chart led by freshmen Mallory Miller’s 3-point shooting and Regan dialed in from the free throw line while Miller etched her name atop the season 3-point shooting as Regan, Stapleton, and sophomore Micaela Jellison finished the season on the top ten chart.

The Lady Cougars were also strong in the classroom, earning the NJCAA national academic title with a stellar 3.72 GPA as four members achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA with eight above a 3.60.

In Clark’s first season the Lady Cougars placed 7th in the conference at 13-13 in winding up his first year at the helm at 17-15 and numerous individual and team historical accomplishments.

Leading the rewriting of the book, Katrina Roenfeldt capped her stellar Lady Cougar career earning two post-season honors, named to the Division I first team of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) while earning second team honors in the Division I of Region VI.  The Dodge City, Kansas, native left her mark in the Barton record book atop the chart in single season three-pointers made (106) and attempted (256), career three-pointers made (171) and attempted (237), and single game defensive rebounds (18) while recording a single season fifth best effort from beyond the arc at 41.4%. Roenfeldt also earned two conference player of the week honors to go along with receiving a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) weekly award.

Also making their mark in the Barton record books were two additional sophomores Regan Unruh and Baylee Robinson.  Unruh, a Great Bend native, drained a program third best 77.6% from the charity stripe over her two year career.  Robinson, a transfer from Trinidad Junior College, pumped in a career high thirty-six points and hauled down thirteen rebounds in Barton's Region VI victory on March 2nd as the Roswell, New Mexico, native went 17-of-26 from the field surpassing the sixteen made field goals set in the ’99-00 season.

The team also made its mark in the storied history of Lady Cougar basketball in four different categories including taking over the top spot in defensive rebounds (51) in finishing with a program third best total rebounds (74) in its February 11th game against Dodge City.   The 2016-17 squad also wasn't afraid of launching the long ball, led by Roenfeldt's record breaking season along with primarily Unruh and Megan Jirak, the Lady Cougars launched a second best 36 at Independence and a sixth most 32 at Butler.  Draining 198-of-604 (32.8%) from beyond the arc, the team finished the season with the fourth most made three-pointers in Barton history.

A Barton alumna, Clark joined the coaching staff in 2012 as an assistant for three years under Carter Kruger before last season’s assistant duties to Trevor Rolfs.

“I look forward to great things coming for our women’s basketball program under the leadership of Alan Clark,” said Rolfs. “A man of tremendous integrity, great work ethic, and a strong desire to win make him an outstanding choice for the position.  Ultimately, Coach Clark will bring much needed stability back to our women’s program.”

Clark arrived to Barton after three successful seasons leading the Otis-Bison High School boys’ basketball team.  Guiding the Cougars to two state tournaments, Clark’s final year produced the school’s highest ever finish with a state runner-up season after finishing third the year prior.  

Coaching at various levels of basketball throughout his career, Clark has coached many teams throughout the central Kansas region.  From AAU basketball to crossing lines to AAU  baseball where Clark helped develop nine of his eleven players into college scholarships as well as one Major League draftee. 

A 1978 Barton graduate, Clark played point guard leading the Cougars to their first ever Jayhawk West Conference title and Region 6 runner-up finish and a 27-3 overall mark in the 76-77 season. Clark held the Barton assist record for thirteen years and can still be found in the top eight historically thirty-six years later in assists per game, assists in a season, and free throw percentage.

After graduating from Barton, Clark went on to Midland College in Fremont, Nebraska.  Clark helped lead the team in an amazing turnaround from a dismal two win season the year before his arrival to a post season playoff team in his first year donning the Midland uniform. 

After college Clark became a well-known local businessman, as well as, a respected basketball official working numerous high school State Championship, collegiate Region VI and National tournament games. Clark has also enjoyed seeing two of his sons attend Barton playing on both the basketball and baseball teams.