TOPEKA – Following a week layoff, the top-ranked Cloud County Community College women's track and field team would pick up where they left off to post four new national qualifying marks and set one new school-record to win the Washburn University JUCO Challenge inside the Washburn University Indoor Athletic Facility in Topeka on Friday.
Going head-to-head with two other top-five teams and four teams ranked inside the top-15, CCCC would dominate the meet, winning with a team total of 122 points. The next closest team to the T-Birds would be fifth-ranked Iowa Western with 82 points while Butler (60 points), third-ranked Iowa Central (54 points), sixth-ranked Cowley (37 points), and 14th-ranked Trinidad State (five points) rounded out the six-team meet.
For the second time this season, the Cloud County 4x400 meter relay team consisting of Leonie Beu, Mercy Ntia-Obong, Isila Apkup, and Pamela Milano would set a school record by posting an event winning time of 3:44.34. Beu would also set national qualifying times in the 60 meters (7.78) and 200 meters (25.00) while Apkup would post a time of 24.63 in the 200 meters to add another event to her national qualifying marks.
CCCC's lone other qualifying mark would come courtesy of Patricia Koma in the 3,000 meters as the sophomore would take runner-up in the event while running a time of 10:38.70 to qualify for her fourth event at the national meet. The T-Birds would also add event wins in the 60 meters by Ntia-Obong (7.43 seconds) and Milano in the 800 meters (2:18.10) to go along with a pair of event victories from Marie Forbes (shot put – 13.73 meters, weight throw – 18.67 meters).
Other top-five finishes by Cloud County women's track and field athletes on Friday saw Aliya Hatton (9.19 seconds), Keiana Newman (9.58 seconds), and Aeryn Reckward (10.18 seconds) take second, third, and fifth in the 60-meter hurdles while Crews would add a third-place finish in the 400 meters (59.42 seconds). Georgia Bell would clear 2.75 meters (9 ft. – 0.25 in.) in the pole vault in her only event of the day to take a second-place finish while Reckward would clear 2.15 meters (7 ft. – 0.5 in.) for third while Maycee Callihan finished in third in the shot put (11.71 meters, 38 ft. – 5 in.) and fifth in the weight throw (12.75 meters, 41 ft. – 10 in.) One final fifth-place finish would come courtesy of sophomore Kya Johnson with a time of 11:04.28 in the 3,000 meters as CCCC finished with 17 top-five finishes.
What's next?
Cloud County is next scheduled to be in action on Feb. 20 for day one of the 2021 NJCAA Region VI Championships. The meet will be held in Pittsburg on the campus of Pittsburg State University, and will the first two-day meet of the year that the T-Bird women will compete in. Additionally, it is expected to be the first time this year that top-ranked Cloud County will compete head-to-head against number two Barton Community College at the same meet.
--cloudtbirds.com--