The Barton Community College men’s and women’s track and field teams finished second and third respectively in the 2012 NJCAA Indoor Championship this past weekend at in Charleston, Illinois. The Barton men, who have won ten indoor championships and finished second three times in the past fifteen years, captured two first place finishes and scored in twelve total events. The Lady Cougars, who have won seventeen national championships and ten second place finishes in its storied history, captured two gold medals and scored in eight events. The Cougars will spend the next couple of weeks preparing for the outdoor portion of its schedule which starts March 28 at the prestigious Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.
Highlights – Men
Capturing gold medals for the Cougar men were Tayron Reyes in the 800 meter run and Jharyl Bowry in the long jump. Reyes finished nearly two and half seconds faster than his nearest competitor in running away with in a time of 1:51.80. Reyes also captured a second place finish in the 1000 meter run in 2:31.29. Bowry, the reigning Region VI Indoor Outstanding Male Field Athlete, saved his best jump until last as he moved from second to first place in winning the long jump. Trailing Coffeyville’s Orlando Ezell going into the final jump, Bowry exploded nine inches past his previous best jump to win with a leap of 25-4.75, marking his best performance of the indoor season. Carrying the spring from the long jump, Bowry also set another personal record as he went on to finish fourth in triple jump with a 48-0.5 leap.
All total, the Cougar men set seven personal records at the championship. In addition to Bowry, Demetrius Lindo set a personal record in the prelims of the 60 meter at 6.72 and went on to finish second with a time of in the 60 meter with a time of 6.82, just .02 seconds out of first place.
Tony Green also was solid for the Cougars as he set two personal records in the day including second place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 49-7.25 and a sixth place finish in the 60 meter hurdles clocking in at 8.20.
Earning third place finishes were Ren Edwards with a 1:20.90 in the 600 meters and Aliaksandr Linnik in the 400 meters at 49.11. Linnik also ran a solid 21.93 in finishing fifth in the 200 meters.
Akeem Haynes rounded out the Cougars scoring with a personal best 6.79 in the prelims of the 60m, an event he would finish fourth in.
Also posting a personal best at the championships was Wes Tuck with a 47-1.5 twelfth place weight throw.
Highlights - Women
Highlighting the Lady Cougars individual performances were the first place finishes of Agata Klimovich in the 400 meter and Yehaterina Miroshnikova in the 1 mile run. Klimovich captured gold with a time of 56.01 while Miroshnikova held off Fiona McKenna of Iowa Central to win in a time of 5:11.29. Miroshnikova added to her day’s outstanding performance by capturing fourth place in the 1000 meter run as well with a time of 3:03.75.
Kandace Thomas joined Miroshnikova as placing in two events as she earned a pair of second place finishes in both the 60 meter and 200 meter runs. In the 60 meter she narrowly missed gold as her 7.38 time was one-hundredth of a second out of first place while here 24.31 time in the 200 meter was a mere one-tenth of a second from gold.
Dana Gates had perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the day as she leaped for a personal best 17-4.75 in the long jump to earn second place.
Not to be outdone, the field event duo of Janee Mickens and Marcela Solano also posted personal bests over the weekend. Mickens’ personal best 14.64 was good for third place in the shot put while Solano’s 52-0.25 throw earned her fourth place in the weight throw.
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