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

3/21/05
Story by Tyler Cundith

JCCC Women’s Track Team 4th at Indoor Nationals

OVERLAND PARK, KS -- The Johnson County Community College women’s track and field team recently registered a fourth-place finish at the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill. The fourth-place team finished ties the second-best in JCCC history. The Lady Cavaliers placed second in 2003, the first season under head coach Joe Weis.

In addition, eight individuals garnered 11 NJCAA All-America honors. by finishing as a top three medalists. Five of the eight were national champions. Three other performances earned three athletes NJCAA Coaches All-American by finishing among the top six American performers.

Freshmen Esther Mathias and Sarah Stark, and sophomore Rychel Johnson led the way earning NJCAA All-American running legs on the national champion 4x800 and runner-up distance medley relay teams. Joining them on the 4x800 team was sophomore Cassie Blankenship. Freshman Kasheena Riley rounds out the distance medley team.

The distance medley team finished with a new school record time of 12:43.79. The old mark, 12:49.25, was set in 2003 at the Jayhawk Invitational. The previous best time at nationals was 12:52.94 in 1993. This is the second time a 4x800 team won a national championship. The first 4x800 team to win nationals was in 1995.

Mathias and Stark also earned Coaches All-American in other events. Mathias placed fifth in the 1,000-meters, finishing with a time of3:08.43. That time is the third-best performance in team history in that event, the best ever in a national championship. Stark raced to a fifth-place finish in the3,000-meters, crossing the finish line in 10:29.31. Stark’s time is the fourth-best performance in team history, and second-best in a national championship event.

Entering the indoor championships, a JCCC pole vaulter had produced a national champion three times, and amassed 10 All-American honors during the six years it has been an event. This season, JCCC increased those totals to four and 13. Freshman vaulter Erica Culver, and sophomore vaulters Laura Gjerde and Toni Bathurst finished 1-2-3 in the event. Culver was crowned national champion, clearing 11'8", a new indoor record. She broke the old mark by a quarter of an inch set last year by Gjerde.

Gjerde, runner-up indoors and a national champion outdoors last season, cleared 11'2.25" to place second in 2005. Bathurst also cleared 11'2.25", but placed third based on her number of attempts.

Rounding out JCCC’s All-America performances is sophomore Nicole Porter, who earned Coaches All-American in the 5,000-meters. She placed fifth overall finishing with a time of 19:04.30.