Johnson County Community College
Press Release

College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Director, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122

10/18/2007
Story by Tyler Cundith

JCCC teams making a national impact

OVERLAND PARK, KS --  As the fall sports season closes in on postseason play, four of Johnson County Community College’s fall sports teams have earned national acclaim.  In addition, several individuals have also left their mark among the country’s top statistical leaders in their respective sports.

The JCCC volleyball team moved up two spots to take over the No. 2 spot in the current NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Poll.   In addition, JCCC moved a step closer to capturing the East Jayhawk Conference title with a 3-0 win over Allen County, Wednesday night.  The stand 21-4 overall, and 9-0 in the conference.    

Individually, five members of the team are ranked in five different statistical categories.  Setter Beth Schneweis is ranked 22nd with an assist per game average of 10.278.  Lauren Russell,  the team’s libero, is ranked 24th with a digs per game average of 5.671.  Hitter Jackie Swab is ranked 37th in hitting efficiency at 34.910 percent.  Jacqui Belozer holds down the 42nd spot in kills per game at 3.350, and Sydney Pemberton is ranked 49th with a blocks per game average of 1.036.

The women’s and men’s cross country teams are among the top-10 ranked teams nationally.  The women hold down the fourth spot, while the men are currently ninth.  For the women, Christa Heideman has posted the 14th-best time in the country at the 5k distance, and the 10th-best time in a 6k race.  Her times are 18:47 and 23:43 respectively.  Francis Gipson’s 5k time of 19:37 is the 30th-best performance in the country this year.  On the men’s side, Alex Troncoso posted the 44th-best performance nationally in an 8k race with his time of 26:15.7 at the Disney Cross Country Classic last week.

The women’s soccer team is having another banner year.   The team is ranked 13th nationally, and they stand 16-2-1 and are 9-0-0 in conference play.  A victory over Independence, Oct. 19, secures the 2007 conference title for the Cavaliers.  Individually, JCCC’s offense has three of the top-25 scorers in the country, including two in the top-10.  Rachelle Luster,  the nation’s scoring champion a year ago, is ranked seventh this season with 58 points.  She has 19 goals and 20 assists.  Emily Leeper, ranked fourth last year, holds down the 10th spot with 55 points on 20 goals and 15 assists.  Courtney Cowan has 42 points this year on 17 goals and eight assists, which ranks her tied for 24th.  Goalkeeper Megan Brown is ranked fourth nationally with a goals against average of 0.490.  She has allowed only nine goals in 19 matches.