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

JCCC Women’s Track Team Win Conference

OVERLAND PARK, KS -- The Johnson County Community College women’s track and field team recently captured the 2005 East Jayhawk Conference Indoor Championship at Ahern Field House in Manhattan, Kan. JCCC tallied 235.5 points in the competition, 132 more than runner-up Highland. This is Johnson County’s seventh championship in the nine year history of the event. JCCC placed runner-up the other two years.

The Lady Cavaliers also placed third in the Region VI standings. A total of 19 JCCC athletes garnered 43 all-conference honors, including seven individual conference champions, and one championship relay. In addition, 12 athletes posted 19 all-region performances.

Sophomore Cassie Blankenship of Lansing, Kan., won individual titles in the mile and 1,000-meters. She also earned All-Region VI in those events, placing third in each. Her time in the 1,000-meters of 3:11.52 ranks fourth all-time at JCCC, and her time of 5:19.87 in the mile moves her into the fourth spot on JCCC top performers list in the event.

Freshman Erica Culver of Garden City, Kan., won conference and region titles in the pole vault with a mark of 11'5.75". That mark ties the second-best performance all-time at Johnson County.

Freshman Tara Staurt of Mill Valley, won the pentathlon, scoring a school record 2,702 points. The previous record was 2,587 set by Ginger McDaniel at the 1996 NJCAA Indoor Championships. Staurt also garnered all-conference accolades in the 60-meter hurdles, long jump, high jump and triple jump, placing second, second, fourth and fourth respectively. She also earned All-Region VI in the pentathlon, 60-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump, pacing third, fifth, sixth and sixth respectively.

Freshman Esther Mathias of Maranatha Academy, won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:25.12. That performance also earned her a third -place finish in the region, and All-Region VI accolades. Mathias also was a conference champion as a member of the distance medley relay team. The team also placed third in the region. Mathias placed fourth in the 3,000-meters, which also earned her all-conference honors in that event.

Sophomore Nicole Porter of Odessa, Mo., registered two all-conference and all-region performances at the championship. Porter won a conference title in the 5,000-meters with a time of 19:27.97, and placed second in the mile with a time of 5:38.61. She placed third and fifth respectively in the region in those events.

Freshman Sarah Stark of Shawnee Mission North, won two conference titles. She was the individual champion in the 3,000-meters, finishing with a time of 10:38.36, moving her into fourth on JCCC all-time performers list. She also ran a leg on the conference champion distance medley relay team. She was all-region in both events as well, placing third in each.

Freshman Nikki Wright of Topeka, Kan, turned in four all-conference performances, placing second in the 600-meters, second in the 4x400 relay, fourth in the 60-meter dash and sixth in the 200-meters. Her time of 1:42.64 in the 600-meters earned a fifth-place region finish and all-region accolades. Her time of 8.15 in the 60-meters placed her in fourth on JCCC all-time performers list.

Freshman Haley Jackson of Ottawa, Kan, also earned four all-conference honors in the meet. She was a member of the champion distance medley relay, and ran legs on the 4x400 and 4x800 relays that place runner-up. Her fourth all-conference performance was in the 600-meters where she placed sixth overall. The distance medley relay placed third in the region, which earned her all-region honors.

Sophomore Rychel Johnson of Lawrence Free State, ran a leg on distance medley relay that placed first in the conference and third in the region, earning her all-conference and all-region accolades. She also earned all-conference n the 800-meters, placing third overall with a time of 2:36.05.

Sophomore Toni Bathurst earned three all-conference honors. Bathurst placed second in the triple jump and sixth in the 400-meters in her individual events, ran a leg ont he 4x400 relay that place second. Her effort of 33'11.5" in the triple jump also earned her a fourth-place finish in the region and all-region honors.

Freshman Alexis Meinke of Grandview, Mo, was a three-time all-conference performer. She ran a leg on the 4x800 relay that finished runner-up, and earned individual honors in the weight throw and shot put placing third and sixth respectively. Her effort of 39'11.75" in the weight throw moved her into third on JCCC’s all-time performers list.

Earning two all-conference honors were freshmen Danielle Coleman and Lawrence Free State and Kasheena Riley of Topeka, Kan., and sophomore Lacie Holmberg of Reading, Kan. Coleman ran a leg on the 4x800 team that place second,and earned a fifth-place finish in the 500-meters with a time of 1:49.72. Riley placed third in the long jump with a mark of 15'11.75", and placed fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 32'0". Holmberg earned a second-place finish in the high jump clearing 4'11.75", and placed fourth in the pentathlon with 2,347 points. Holmberg also earned all-region honors in the high jump, finishing fifth. Her 2,347 points in the pentathlon rank fifth among the top performers at JCCC.

Rounding out the all-conference performers were freshman Ana Fernandez of Eudora, Kan., sophomore Jovan Frazier of Olathe East, freshman Kirsten Bister of Shawnee Mission West, Marquetta McGee of Shawnee Mission Northwest and Yuliya Kubryakova of Donestk, Ukraine. Fernandez placed second in the conference and third in the region in the pole vault, clearing 9'6.25". Frazier rank a leg on the 4x400 relay that placed second. Bister earned a sixth-place finish in the weight throw with a mark of 36'8.5". McGee ran a leg on the 4x800 relay that placed second, and Kubryakova turned in a fifth-place effort in the mile run with a time of 6:17.73.