One of the NJCAA’s most prolific conferences, the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference is dedicated to achieving the highest goals in the integration of academic and athletic endeavors.  Individually, member schools have long been respected for successes both in its classrooms and its stadiums.

In all, the KJCCC is home to more than 3,000 student-athletes on 244 teams in the 22 men’s and women’s KJCCC-sponsored sports. The men’s programs regulated by the conference include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, indoor/outdoor track and field, rodeo, soccer, tennis and wrestling.  The KJCCC-regulated women’s programs include basketball, cross country, dance, golf, indoor/outdoor track and field, rodeo, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball.

Entering the 2011-12 competitive seasons for 10 men’s championships and 10 women’s title-attaining sports, KJCCC member institutions can boast of 120 NJCAA National Championships in 12 different men’s and women’s sports.  However, the success of the conference from 1990 through the spring of 2011 is unprecedented. Of the 120 national titles, 92 have come during that span, 38 during the 1990s and another 54 in the first 11 years of the new millennium. In addition, 16 of its 19 members have won at least one national championship, and 13 have won two or more.

The KJCCC has produced more than 5,000 NJCAA All-Americans and a number of athletes have continued to excel on the NAIA, NCAA, Olympic and professional levels.
At the 2004 Olympics, former Barton County athletes earned a total of seven medals, including three gold medals.  Among that group was Veronica Campbell, who won gold in the 200-meters and 4x100, and bronze in the 100-meters for Jamaica, and former Cougar Derrick Brew ran a leg on USA’s gold medal 4x400 relay. 

Four years later in 2008, Campbell again took gold in the 200-meters, and former Barton County track stars Aaron Armstrong and Leevan Sands also earned Olympic hardware.  Armstrong earned silver for Trinidad & Tobago in the men’s 4x100 relay and Sands took the bronze in the triple jump.  For team USA, former Cougar Hyleas Fountain finished with a Bronze medal in the women’s heptathlon and former Pratt baseball standout Terry Tiffee helped USA to a Bronze medal.

Another former Barton County track athlete, Tyson Gay, is considered one of the more decorated former NJCAA track and field athletes.  In 2008 at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Gay set an American record in the 100-meters. He was clocked in a time of 9.77, which was the third-fastest time ever in the event.  A day later he posted a wind-aided 9.68 which is the fastest ever 100-meter time under any conditions -even faster than the official 9.69 mark set by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt at the Olympics in Beijing.  In 2007, Gay became just the third athlete in history to claim both the 100-meter and 200-meter world titles.  He also anchored the USA 4x100 relay that won gold.  For his efforts in 2007, Gay was selected as the 2007 IAAF Male World Athlete of the Year and the 2007 Men’s Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News. 

Former Cowley baseball standouts Junior Spivey and Travis Hafner, and Fort Scott first baseman Adam LaRoche made an impact at the Major League level, and former Kansas City Kansas sluggers David Segui and Kevin Young combined for 27 years of service, 2,419 hits and 283 home runs at the Major League level. 

The Jayhawk Conference has also made an impact in the NFL, with over 200 former players having played for all 32 teams in the league.  Among that group include former Garden City running back Corey Dillon and former Coffeyville running back Mike Rozier, who also was the Heisman Trophy winner in 1983 at the University of Nebraska, and former Raven Brandon Jacobs, a starting running back for the 2008 World Champion New York Giants.

Former Jayhawk Conference basketball players have also had an impact on professional basketball.  In 1999, former Barton County center Alek Radojevic made history when he was selected in the first round by the Toronto Raptors with the 12th pick overall. On the women’s side, 10 former players have gone on to pro careers in the WNBA and ABL, including former Butler County guard Betty Lennox, who was the 2004 WNBA Finals MVP.

Several former athletes also went on to pro career in sports different from what they played while attending KJCCC schools.  Basketball players Marcus Pollard of Seward County, James’ Buster” Douglas of Coffeyville and Steve Fritz of Hutchinson all went on to have successful professional careers in other sports. Pollard has played 12 seasons at a tight end in the NFL.  Douglas is a former undisputed world heavy weight boxing champion, and scored the biggest upset in the history of the sport by knocking out Mike Tyson in 1990 in Tokyo.  Fritz was the 1997 U.S. national champion in the decathlon.  He also hit the game-winning shot to give Hutchinson the 1988 national basketball title.

Organized in 1923, the Jayhawk Community College Conference arose out of the special needs of Kansas community colleges to create an organization which would further the best interests of intercollegiate athletics. Originally named the Kansas Public Junior College Association, the name Kansas Jayhawk Junior College Conference was adopted in 1962. Thirteen years later, the name as it is known today, the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference was adopted.

Composed of five members at the onset, the conference has changed its makeup several times. Long respected as the leader in academics and athletics in the NJCAA, the conference today has grown to a membership of 19 community colleges from the state of Kansas, divided into two divisions, the East and West.
Seven individuals have held the title of commissioner. Bryce Roderick, the current commissioner, is serving his 10th year at the helm.  Roderick began his service as commissioner in July of 2003, succeeding Bennie Lee.  He served one year as his assistant before taking the helm. 

Roderick began his service to community colleges in 1973 when he was selected to the Garden City Community College Board of Trustees.  He was elected to four terms and served 16 years.  In July of 1989, he was hired as the Director of Recreational Sports and Coordinator of Facilities at GCCC, and served as Assistant Athletic Director until 2002.  Roderick began his service to the NJCAA as Assistant Region VI Women’s Director in 1995 and became Region VI Director in 1996.  He has served on the NJCAA Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of USA Track and Field.  He is also co-chair of the NJCAA Half Marathon, Cross Country and Track and Field Committees and serves on the NJCAA Volleyball and Softball Committees.
 
In April 2007 at the NJCAA annual meeting, Roderick was awarded the George E. Killian Award of Excellence. This award is given to individuals dedicated to the ideals of volunteerism, achievement, service, leadership and excellence.  Roderick is only the second women’s director to receive this prestigious award.

NJCAA National Champions
Barton County (55) Women’s Indoor Track-1980 Women’s Outdoor-Track-1990 Women’s Outdoor Track-1985 Women’s Outdoor Track-1986 Women’s Cross Country-1986 Women’s Indoor Track-1988 Women’s Indoor Track-1990 Women’s Outdoor Track-1990 Women’s Cross Country-1990 Women’s Indoor Track-1991 Women’s Outdoor Track-1991 Women’s Cross Country-1991 Women’s Indoor Track-1992 Women’s Outdoor Track-1992 Women’s Cross Country-1992 Women’s Indoor Track-1993 Women’s Outdoor Track-1993 Women’s Outdoor Track-1994 Women’s Indoor Track-1995 Women’s Outdoor Track-1995 Women’s Indoor Track-1996 Women’s Cross Country-1995 Women’s Indoor Track-1998 Men’s Indoor Track-1998 Men’s Outdoor Track-1998 Women’s Indoor Track-1999 Men’s Indoor Track-1999 Men’s Outdoor Track-1999 Women’s Indoor Track-2000 Men’s Indoor Track-2000 Women’s Outdoor Track-2000 Men’s Outdoor Track-2000 Women’s Indoor Track-2001 Men’s Indoor Track-2001 Women’s Outdoor Track-2001 Men’s Outdoor Track-2001 Women’s Indoor Track-k-2002 Men’s Indoor Track-2002 Women’s Outdoor Track-2002 Men’s Outdoor Track-2002 Women’s Indoor Track-2003 Men’s Indoor Track-2003 Women’s Outdoor Track-2003 Men’s Outdoor Track-2003 Volleyball - 2003 Women’s Indoor Track-2004 Men’s Indoor Track-2004 Women’s Outdoor Track-2004 Men’s Outdoor Track-2004 Women’s Indoor Track-2005 Men’s Indoor Track-2005 Women’s Outdoor Track-2005 Men’s Indoor Track-2006 Women’s Indoor Track–2006 Men’s Indoor Track-2010	Butler (12) Men’s Basketball-1953 Men’s Cross County-1970 Football-1981 Football-1998 Football-1999 Women’s Cross Country-2002 Football-2003 Men’s 1/2 Marathon-2004 Women’s 1/2 Marathon-2004 Men’s 1/2 Marathon-2005 Football-2007 Football-2008 Cloud County (4) Men’s Cross County-1995 Women’s Basketball-2001 Men’s 1/2 Marathon-2003 Men's Soccer 2011 Colby (3) Women’s Marathon-1993 Women’s Cross Country-1999 Men’s Wrestling-1999 Coffeyville (6) Football-1956 Men’s Outdoor Track-1960 Men’s Cross Country-1960 Men’s Basketball-1962 Football-1983 Football-1990 Cowley College (10) Men’s Tennis-1989 Men’s Tennis-1991 Men’s Baseball-1997 Men’s Baseball-1998 Women’s 1/2 Marathon-2009 Men’s Cross Country-2010 Women’s Cross Country-2010 Men’s 1/2 Marathon-2010 Women’s 1/2 Marathon-2010 Women's Volleyball 2011 Dodge City (4) Men’s Basketball-1964 Women’s Outdoor Track-1976 Women’s Cross Country-1978 Men’s Cross Country-1998 Fort Scott (1) Football-1970 Garden City (3) Men’s Wrestling-1992 Men’s Wrestling-1994 Men’s Wrestling-1995	Hutchinson (5) Men’s Outdoor Track-1954 Men’s Outdoor Track-1959 Men’s Basketball-1988 Men’s Basketball-1994 Women’s Cross Country-2001 Independence (3) Men’s Basketball-1963 Men’s Basketball-1977 Men’s Basketball-1978 Johnson County (10) Women’s Marathon-1992 Women’s Basketball-2000 Women’s Cross Country-2000 Men’s Basketball-2001 Women’s 1/2 Marathon-2003 Volleyball-2005 Women’s 1/2 Marathon-2005 Women’s 1/2 Marathon–2006 Women's 1/2 Marathon-2008 Men's Basketball-2009 Labette (2) Men’s Basketball-1960 Men’s Wrestling-2005 Neosho County (1) Men’s Wrestling-2000 Pratt (2) Men’s Tennis-1959 Men’s Tennis-1961 Seward County (1) Women’s Basketball-2002