The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced their outdoor regional awards with three given to the Barton Community College track and field team. Voted and selected by member coaches within the USTFCCCA, Barton received three of the eight awards given within the Central Region.
Headlining the selections was student-athlete Ayesha Champagnie earning the women’s field athlete of the year while Head Coach David Schenek and Assistant Coach Tony Davis won the women’s coaches of the year awards.
Women’s Head Coach of the Year (Central Region)
In his eighth year leading the Barton Track and Field program, Schenek helped lead the Lady Cougars to their first outdoor Region VI title since 2009 winning eleven of the twenty-two events. With his main focus on the field events, Schenek’s athletes accumulated 70 of the team’s 189 points as Barton won the region title by 24 points and the Jayhawk West title by 63 points. Schenek and his Lady Cougars took a No. 6 ranking into the national championship with twelve qualified performances for nationals.
Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year (Central Region)
Named the indoor women’s assistant coach award, Davis adds the outdoor honor to his credit helping guide the Lady Cougars to the Jayhawk West and Region VI titles. Overseeing mostly the sprints, hurdles, and relay team athletes, Davis’s athletes earned 93 points in the region championship bringing the title back home to Barton for the first time since 2009. Going into the national championships, Davis helped produced nineteen national qualifying performances in garnering a No. 6 national ranking.
Women’s Field Athlete of the Year (Central Region)
Champagnie entered the 2016 NJCAA Outdoor Championships with the top heptathlon performance (5397 points) and javelin throw (47.57m, 156-01) in the nation. Additionally, the multi-talented freshman had the nation’s sixth best 100m hurdle time (14.16), the tenth best shot put distance (14.08m, 46-02.50), and a top twenty mark in both the high jump and long jump.
Winning the heptathlon at West Texas A&M University Classic this April, Champagnie not only recorded the third best school effort in the event but broke the WTAMU Track and Field Complex record simultaneously. In the first outdoor meet following her school record breaking pentathlon performance at indoor nationals, Champagnie threw her nation’s leading 47.57m javelin mark claiming the TSU Relay title held in Houston, Texas, while also etching her name in the third spot of the Barton record books. The Kingston, Jamaica, native lived up to the top spot at the recent NJCAA Outdoor Championships bringing home gold in both events with a 549 point win in the heptathlon scoring 5201 points while taking the javelin title with a 45.10m (147-11) throw.