Lady Cougars qualify two more for nationals, Mato wins 3000m at Jayhawk Classic

Having improved performances from last week's meet at Nebraska, the Barton Community College women's track and field team earned two more national qualifying marks as the Lady Cougars completed their second indoor meet of the season on Friday at the University of Kansas' Jayhawk Classic in Lawrence, Kansas.  

Lydia Mato, who ran the third fastest 5000m time in Barton history last weekend at the Holiday Inn Classic, captured the 3000 meter Friday crossing the finish line in a national qualifying time of 10:29.80.  The feat marks the second straight meet Mato qualified for the NJCAA Indoor Championships as her performance last weekend also qualified her in the 5000 meter.  

In the sprints, freshmen Ambria Avery and Annette Gaskins both competed last week in the 200 meter but raced in the 60 meter this week.  Avery clocked in at 8.16 for 36th place while Gaskins crossed the tape in 52nd place in a time of 8.60.  The freshman trio of Modesty Lorick, Kiana Winston, and Trenna Cox made their debut in the 60m Hurdles with Lorick finishing just .07 seconds off the national qualifying standard with a time of 9.24 to finish in 11th place.  Winston finished close behind in 15th place at 9.31 while Cox crossed the line in 41st place in 10.76.   Winston also competed in the 400 meters finishing in 14th place in 1:01.57.

Freshman Agnes Abu also had an impressive debut as she finished 7th in the 800 meter run in a national qualifying time of 2:21.66.  Tabitha Kim finished 14th in the 1000 meter run in 3:27.67 while Jenna Schroeder placed 13th in the 1 Mile Run in 6:39.96.

The Lady Cougars also competed in the 4X400 meter relay as the team of Lahni Clifton, N'Kia Jones, Gaskins, and Winston finished in 13th place with a time of 4:10.91.

In the field events, freshman Elizabeth Evans placed 10th in the Shot Put with a heave of 40-3 ½ (12.28m), just missing the national qualifying mark by .03 meters.  Jones exceeded her jump from last week, finishing in 10th place in the Triple Jump with a leap of 36-10 ½ (11.24m).  Larned freshman Tahje Ochs bounced back from her performance last week to finish 26th with a leap of 32-3 1/3 (9.84m).  Women's Basketball player and freshman Bethany Bowman, who was a standout high jumper for Emporia High School, also made her collegiate track debut but failed on the opening height of the High Jump as did fifteen of the twenty-one competitors in the event.  

The Lady Cougars return to action for the two-day Masked Rider Open held on Friday and Saturday at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.