LINCOLN, Neb. — Just five days removed from the holiday break, the Barton Community College track and field teams opened their indoor season this past weekend at the Holiday Inn Invitational, which was held on the campus of the University of Nebraska.
Along with the nationally prominent Cougars teams, the two-day event featured both of the men’s and women’s defending NJCAA indoor champions and the Big Ten Conference women’s indoor champions as 14 colleges competed at the Devaney Center Indoor Track.  
The Cougars will return to action next weekend for the Masked Rider Open, which will be held on the campus of Texas Tech in Lubbock.
The Cougars,who finished second at last year’s NJCAA indoor national championship, were led by the performances of freshmen David Winters and Brien Berry.
A native of Forestville, Md., Winters recorded one of the top collegiate times in the nation, sprinting to a 6.74 time in the 60-meter preliminaries.  Fellow freshman Rahim Conwell also did well in the 60m, recording a 6.99 time in the prelims.
  Unfortunately for both and some other Barton athletes, a transportation malfunction kept the Cougars from reaching the track in time to compete in the finals.  
Berry, who hails from Durham, N.C., finished second in the 200m at 21.92 to Nebraska’s Janis Leitis time of 21.43, which is ninth-best in the nation.
 The Lady Cougars, last year’s fourth-place team finisher, was led by sophomore Paulina Montoya.
   Her sixth place finish at 19:55.45 in the 5000m was her second best personal mark behind last year’s 19:35.11.  Fellow sophomore Michelle Klepper finished 10th in a time of 20:46.30.
Complete results, as well as additional information regarding Barton track and field, can be found online at www.BartonSports.com