Tiger men’s and women’s track and field teams place second in the conference

Finishing within 10 points of conference titles, the Cowley College men's and women's track and field teams placed second at the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference/Region VI Championships held May 2-4 in Pratt, KS.

The Tiger men (189.5 points) were only 4.5 points behind conference champion Coffeyville, while the Lady Tigers (197 points) were just nine points back of Fort Scott.

The Tigers were attempting to win the KJCCC Eastern Conference championship for a third straight year for both the men and women, with the ladies attempting to accomplish the program's first conference triple crown since 2010. 

"It stings a little bit to come up so close on both sides, but hats off to Coffeyville on the men's side and Fort Scott on the women's side; they both had awesome meets," Cowley head coach Cameron Rieth said. "Our athletes performed and fought well, but they just had a better weekend."

The Cloud County men captured the region title, and Barton County placed first in the region on the women's side. The Lady Tigers placed fifth in the region, and the Cowley men were eighth.

Lady Tiger runner Tavarie Campbell was the conference champion in the 800 and 1,500-meter runs, while Dakota Dapper was the women's conference champ in the pole vault. The Lady Tiger throwers also shined: Cierra Gray was the conference champion in the shot put, Bree Rowe was the conference champ in the discus, and Jamilet Bautista was the conference champ in the javelin.

Lady Tiger freshman Macye McDonald also performed well as she hit the national qualifying standard in the hammer throw.

Mason Bickle led the Tiger men by being the conference champion in the 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs. Bickle's performance in the 10,000-meter run was good enough to qualify him for nationals in the event.

Pedro Balestrini ran a national qualifying time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and was the conference champion in the event. Tiger runner Miquel Cruz was the conference champion in the 1,500-meter run, and Riley Hunter was the conference champ in the men's pole vault.

Next up for the Tiger track and field teams is the NJCAA National Outdoor Championships, hosted by the University of Louisiana-Monroe in Monroe, LA, May 16-18.