Just a bit short. That is what the Barton men’s track and field team came up in its quest for back-to-back Region VI indoor titles.
The Cougars finished a close second to Butler in the battle for the Region VI Championship. Butler finished with 159 points while Barton finished with 154. Last season Barton defeated Coffeyville by six points at the Plaster Center in Pittsburgh.
The Cougars had a pair of individual champions on the day – both in the field. Leon Boyd was crowned Region VI champion in the triple jump while Steven Crooks earned gold in the shot put. Barton scored 60 points in just five field events during the day to lead the team.
Boyd paced a 1-3-5 Barton finish in the triple jump with his leap of 50-6.75. Adam Mbye finished third with a season-best 49-2.5 while Denroc Dixon was fifth with a 48-1.75. All three are among the top seven in the NJCAA this year.
Dixon and Boyd went 2-3 in a very competitive long jump event. In fact the top three distances in the nation came Saturday in Pittsburg.
National leader Mohammed Abubaker won the event with a jump of 25-3.25 – the longest in the nation this year. Dixon was second with a leap of 24-9.75, only behind Abubaker nationally. The third best effort in the country belongs to Boyd at 24-8.25.
Crooks won the shot with a heave of 53-0.25. Romario Antoine and Ricky Nelson were fifth and sixth. Daley also took fourth in the weight throw and Nelson seventh. Daley has the third best throw in the country this year. Four of the top distances are from the region.
The other points in the field came in the high jump where Dixon took seventh.
On the track, Barton took runner-up in six events. Devyn Brotherton had a pair of second place efforts and a third. Brotherton was second in the 5000m in 15:30.69 in a time that qualified him for the NJCAA Championship. It is the third event he is qualified in.
Brotherton was also second in the 3000m in 8:54.52 and third in the Mile Run in 4:25.76 – two events he has already qualified in. Elder Colindres qualified in the Mile as well with a 4:26.37 for fourth.
The Cougars went 2-3-7 in the 200m for one of its most productive events on the track. Alex Richemond was second in 21.60, McKinley West third in 21.61 and Paul Kinney seventh in 22.06. All three have qualified for the NJCAA’s.
The other 16-point event was in the 60m hurdles where the Cougars went 2-4-6. Jermaine Jones was second in 8.18 with Louis Rivers fourth in 8.27 and Kevin Turner sixth in 8.42. All three have qualified for the NJCAA’s.
In fact in both the 200m and 60m hurdles, Barton has four athletes with qualifying marks but can only take three.
Kadeem Williams was second in the 600m in 1:21.49. The Cougars 4x400m relay team of Paul Willis, Anthony Adderly, Williams, and Jaquez Wilson was second in 3:14.44.
Wilson and Adderly took fifth and eighth in the 400m, Tyler Thornton fourth in the 1000m, and Chedlin Sageese sixth in the 60m in 6.91. Sageese earned a qualifying mark in the 60m with his 6.76 prelim time to give Barton three qualifiers in the 60m.
The distance medley relay team of Thornton, Willis, Anthony Forrest and Colindres was third in 10:26.36.
The NJCAA Indoor meet will be at Winston-Salem, N.C. March 4-5.