By John Mesh
The Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragon women’s volleyball team was picked to finish fifth in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division I out of nine teams in the league coaches poll.
Reigning Jayhawk Conference champion Barton Community College has been picked to repeat as conference champions.
The Cougars received a perfect score of 81 points with all nine first-place votes.
Barton is coming off a 25-6 campaign and a 13-3 mark in the KJCCC after winning the regular-season title by two games last season.
The Cougars fell in the KJCCC Tournament semifinals to Butler Community College.
Picked to finish second behind Barton is last year’s NJCAA Region VI Tournament Champion Colby Community College.
Colby claimed its third NJCAA Region VI Championship in program history to compete in the NJCAA Volleyball National Tournament for the first time since 1978.
The Trojans earned 64 points after receiving five of the nine second-place votes and will look to follow up last year’s 23-11 overall record under head coach Carey Jones.
Following Colby and picked to finish third was Dodge City with second-year head coach Erin Mellinger set to lead the Conquistadors again after taking the Conqs to the KJCCC Tournament semifinal round last season where they saw their season come to an end at the hands of Colby.
Dodge City was one of three conference schools to defeat Barton in the regular season last year by sweeping the Cougars at home on Sept. 6.
The Conquistadors picked up 58 points in the poll to edge out fourth-place Butler who earned 55 points.
The Butler Grizzlies will look to bounce back from last year’s fourth-place finish in the KJCCC regular season after earning at least a share of both the 2021 and 2022 KJCCC regular season titles.
Rounding out the 2024 preseason order of finish are Hutchinson (53 points), Garden City (33 points), Cloud County 32 points, Seward County (19 points), and Pratt (10 points).
Hutchinson and Butler will kick off the conference schedule with a 6 p.m. match inside the Power Plant in El Dorado while the 2024 regular season will get underway on Thursday, Aug. 22.
All nine teams will play a 16-match conference schedule that is set to get underway on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
HutchCC women’s soccer team ranked 20th in NJCAA preseason poll
The Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons women’s soccer team was ranked 20th in the NJCAA Division I preseason poll released on Monday.
Cowley County was the highest-ranked Kansas team at No. 10, with Butler at No. 12 and Barton at No. 17.
Iowa Western was ranked No. 1, followed by Eastern Florida State College, Seminole State College, Tyler Junior College, Arizona Western College, Salt Lake Community College, Navarro College, Daytona State College and Hill College.
Kansas Wesleyan University to offer women’s wrestling in fall of 2025
Kansas Wesleyan will launch its 26th intercollegiate sport in the fall of 2025, as the university announced Tuesday that women’s wrestling will begin competition that semester.
A coach will be hired this fall, with assistant coaches to follow.
The program is the first KWU has added since September 2020, when men’s volleyball joined the slate.
Current offerings Esports, women’s flag football, and men’s and women’s bowling have also joined the Coyote Athletic Department in the past decade.
KWU’s team will practice in Muir Gym, using a suspension mat system. KWU will renovate a locker room for the team, as well.
There are 37 NAIA schools in the United States who offer women’s wrestling programs. More than one-third of them (14) are in Kansas, Missouri or Nebraska.
The Coyotes will become the sixth KCAC school to sponsor the sport. 2024 was the second year that the program held championship status in the NAIA.
“It’s always exciting to add a new sport,” said Athletic Director Miguel Paredes. “Women’s wrestling is on the rise nationally and is especially popular in the Midwest, but more than that, this is another addition to a fantastic Coyote experience.
“Our department has been at the forefront of adding emerging sports for years, and I’m pleased that this announcement continues that trend.”
High schools in the area that offer girls wrestling are Hutchinson, Buhler, Halstead, Haven, Hesston, Kingman, Lyons and Nickerson.
Five Big 12 programs ranked in AP Top 25 college football poll
Five of the 16 Big 12 Conference programs are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, which was released on Monday.
Utah is ranked 12th, Oklahoma State 17th, Kansas State 18th, Arizona 21st and Kansas 22nd.
Three other Big 12 teams received votes: Iowa State, West Virginia and Colorado.
Former Big 12 schools Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, members of the Southeastern Conference, are ranked fourth, 10th, 16th and 20th.
Former Big 12 member Nebraska, a member of the Big 10 Conference, also received votes.
The top three teams are Georgia, Ohio State and Oregon. Nos. 5-10 are Alabama, Mississippi (Ole Miss), Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan and Florida State.
Nos. 13-15 are LSU, Clemson and Tennessee. Miami is 19th, USC 23rd, North Carolina State 24th and Iowa 25th.
Others receiving votes are Louisville, Virginia Tech, Boise State, SMU, Liberty, Washington, Memphis, Wisconsin, Texas-San Antonio, Tulane, Appalachian State, Kentucky and Auburn.