2015-16 Barton Men's Cross Country News
The Barton Community College men’s cross country team placed in the national Top 20 for the second year in a row finishing 17th Saturday at the 2015 NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championship held at the Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Barton completed the 8k race in a combined 2:19:00 to average 27:48 per runner as two Cougars placed amongst the nation's best 100 runners.
In a nationally ranked packed field, the Barton Community College men’s cross country team placed third Saturday at the Region VI Championships held on the campus of Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. Featuring six teams in the nation’s top twenty-five, the No. 12 ranked Cougars finished the 8k rolling hills course behind Region Champion and No. 6 ranked Allen County Community College and No. 8 ranked Butler Community College.
Behind seven personal best efforts Saturday the Barton Community College men's team took third place out of eighteen teams in the Black race division of the FHSU Tiger Open in Victoria, Kansas. The No. 22 ranked Cougars had four runners within the top thirty-five of the 185 competitors covering the 8k course held at the Sand Plum Nature Trail.
The Barton Community College men's team competed this past Saturday in the collegiate division at the 27th annual Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival hosted by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The No. 22 ranked Cougars placed 21st amongst the 33 collegiate teams in the 8k race competing against 466 competitors. The No. 15 ranked Razorbacks took home the university title in the fifteen team NCAA Division I field.
Following a strong start to the season, the Barton Community College cross country teams crack the top twenty in the recently released inaugural national poll provided by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Lady Cougars, who finished 27th at last year’s NJCAA Championships, made a big splash in the national poll at No. 7 and is the top ranked team in Region VI. Finishing 15th nationally last season, the Barton men check into the poll as the fourth best out of Region VI landing at the No. 17 spot.
Capturing a team championship is always a thrill for any athlete, capturing two in one day is double the pleasure. On any normal championship day the excitement can reverberate throughout the day, the week, and in some cases will last a lifetime.
Watching their women counterparts complete the first part of Saturday’s mission, the Barton Community College men's cross country team rose to the challenge in capturing the Terry Masterson Classic. Placing four Cougars in the top ten, Barton averaged 26:56.9 over the 8k Westar/Prairie Ridge Park Course in Hutchinson, Kansas, distancing the competition by an average of twenty-one seconds.
The Barton Community College men's cross country team opened the 2015 season Saturday taking third place at the 67th Annual J.K. Gold Classic held in Augusta, Kansas. Competing in a group of 105 runners from NCAA Division I, small college, and other NJCAA competitors, the Cougars finished thirty-one seconds out of second place with a total team time of 1:44:16. In part due to the individual championship by Sampson Laari, Barton did record the second best per man average on the 6k R.A.F.T. Course at 20:52.