Barton Community College athletic director Trevor Rolfs announced at a Kiwanis Club meeting on Wednesday that there are plans in the works for upgrading the school’s athletic facilities.
He mentioned the building of the new track and soccer complex, as well as the repainting of the gym inside Kirkman Activity Center as the beginning of things to come.
“I think going in, it’s like how can we take the great infrastructure that we have and make it better?” Rolfs said. “With some additions of some new things like the track complex, and phase two and three of that, is the answer. There are things you can do right away, like the facelift stuff with Kirkman. Stuff of minimal cost like that.”
Rolfs also said that handrails would be added to the seating before the basketball season starts.
The school board has approved $185,000 to replace the floor in the north side of Kirkman.
“It’s already been approved to have the floor redone in the north side of Kirkman Activity Center,” Rolfs said. “That new part with all that tile floor, nobody wants to play basketball on that floor right now. We can’t practice in there. We can’t have summer league in there.
“So we’re putting wood flooring in the middle, and we’re getting a new surface for the rest of the floor and the volleyball court.”
Rolfs said that there are bigger projects that he hopes to see done in the next five years, including changing the baseball and softball fields into artificial turf and building an indoor facility for outdoor sports to practice in.
“I get complaints from baseball and softball every day, like ‘Our field’s blowing away,’ ”  Rolfs said. “We had to plant some new grass and then rework some sprinklers.
“What’s the answer to make that not only one of the best facilities anywhere, but fix both of those problems? It’s turf.”
Rolfs said that the baseball field alone would cost up to $300,000. The softball field estimated at $200,000.
However, the gym’s main court is Rolfs next project.
“The floor in the gymnasium is a top priority right now,” Rolfs said. “It’s old. It’s sanded down to the staples. It can’t be sanded anymore. It’s having a hard time holding a finish because there’s just not a lot of product there anymore.
“You have to evaluate everything like that from the offices down to the weight rooms.”
 
McCrillis named KJCCC
Player of the Week
Barton sophomore forward Sam McCrillis was selected as the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Player of the Week in men’s soccer after scoring three goals and recording one assist in two games over the weekend.
“He definitely deserved the award,” Cougars head coach Oliver Twelvetrees said. “He put the team on his back. He was part of all four of the goals we scored this week.
“He’s definitely improved in his third year with us. It’s rare for someone to be with us for three years, but he seems to want to make it an explosive year.”
The Cougars are 1-0-1 after they beat No. 18-ranked Northwest 2-0, and tied 2-2 with No. 19-ranked Otero in the season-opening Barton Classic.
The Cougars have been working their way back to the NJCAA top 20 poll ever since last October.
“I still think we deserve to be ranked,” Twelvetrees said. “We had a disappointing end to last year, and every one of our boys are really motivated to getting back there.”
Barton was ranked No. 1 in the nation before the NJCAA ruled that one of its players was ineligible. The Cougars were stripped of four wins and fell to No. 6 in the final weekly poll of September.
After a loss, the Cougars dropped from the poll completely.
This year, Barton was at the top of the KJCCC preseason poll in a vote by conference coaches.
“It’s really just the predicted order of finish for the Jayhawk Conference,” Twelvetrees said. “It’s nice to be recognized, and it’s definitely where we want to be at the end of the season.

Kruger settling in
to new head coaching job
Barton’s new head women’s basketball coach, Carter Kruger, said that things have been running smoothly so far this preseason.
“Well, it’s been interesting, but it’s been fun,” Kruger said. “We’ve got a good group of kids. That’s the thing about it. We have the perfect student-athletes, at least they have been so far.”
Kruger said that there were several things he didn’t realize that a head coach handled.
“There are so many things that as an assistant coach you don’t have to worry about,” Kruger said. “I sit in bed at night thinking about the next thing that I have to do. That’s something that when you’re an assistant coach, you just let the head coach worry about.”