Final Results | NJCAA Recap | Barton Recap

TOPEKA, Kan. – For the first time since 2010, a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference men’s indoor track and field team has claimed the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field National Title as Barton Community College claimed the 2026 crown inside the Washburn University Indoor Athletic Facility in Topeka, Kansas.

Winning in thrilling fashion, the Cougars entered the final event of the two-day meet two points back of Iowa Central and New Mexico Junior College with all three teams having a 4x400 meter relay team entered across the five heats. After watching Iowa Central run the opening heat and fall out of the scoring by the fourth heat, the Cougars saw New Mexico Junior College in fourth place entering the fifth and final heat of the 4x400 relay that had the four fastest entered teams set to run to close out the event. Needing to finish at least two spots ahead of NMJC to tie for a National Title, the Cougars managed to place third in their heat with a time of 3:09.56 and place fourth overall, earning five team points while bumping the Thunderbirds down to seventh which allowed BCC to finish one point ahead of New Mexico JC with 75 total points.

The National Title is the sixth for Cougar head coach David Schenek across the men’s and women’s programs at Barton, and first since men’s track title for BCC since the 2021 Division 1 Outdoor Men’s Track and Field title. Other KJCCC teams to finish in the top 10 of the final team scores included Butler finishing ninth with 39 total points and Coffeyville placed ninth after scoring 10 points in the 4x400 meter relay to finish with 36 points.  

Across the conference, five individual national championship performances took place, with Barton being the lone school to have multiple individual national champions. The Cougars saw Keandro Gordon set a facility record on his way to a National Title in the 600 meters by running a time of 1:16.91 while Chavez Penn was the lone athlete in the meet to clear seven feet by recording a mark of 2.15 meters (7 feet, 0.5 inches) to claim a national title. The remaining National Championship performances all came on the track, with Garden City’s Elias Mebitil-Libert winning the 3,000 meters (8:13.56), Butler’s Itumeleng Ngxabazi winning the 5,000 meters (14:20.09), and Coffeyville’s 4x400 meter relay team of Delvion Zanders, Randin Johnson, Usir Bey, and Latrell Johnson) posting a winning time of 3:08.03.