PCC sends 22 athletes to four-year universities

In the 2009-2010 academic year, Pratt Community College athletics have continued to find success in the Jayhawk League, as well as prepare student-athletes for transfers to four-year universities all across the country. The following is a brief summary of how each team fared this past season.

Volleyball (19-14, 8-4 Jayhawk Conference): This season was strong, bringing a season-high ranking of No. 11 in the country while beating Hutchinson CC for the first time in a decade. In the Regional Tournament, they beat Seward, Barton and Hutch before falling to Hutch in the finals of the double elimination tournament. The team landed three All-Conference players and sent four girls to four-year universities, including Juliana Chavez (DI-Hampton Univ.), Kalie Mader (DII-SW Okla. State), and Kate Trejos and Tatiana Gonzalez (both attending NAIA Wayland Baptist University).

Wrestling: In their fourth season, the Beavers finished third in the West Central District, qualifying seven for nationals with three All-Americans. The Beavers finished 15^th overall at nationals, with All-American Ralph Major leading the team with a fifth place finish. All-America freshmen Jesse Barber and Ramon Willis both placed eighth. Five wrestlers will move to four-year programs, including Major and Travis Budke (Fort Hays University), Tyler Downs (Newman University), Chris Wright (Dana College) and Austin Hamm (Baker University).

Women’s Basketball (7-24, 3-13 Jayhawk Conference): Despite a losing record, Pratt made the playoffs before losing to Cowley in the Region 6 Tournament. Phylicia Freeman was named Honorable Mention All-Region and a Jayhawk West All-Conference player. She will finish out her career at Morehead State University. Whitney Slater and Taylor Lockridge will also be furthering their careers, but are undecided as to where.

Baseball (18-37): In his third year, Coach Ryan Schmidt ended the Beaver season with his first playoff appearance. Joe Kornbrust earned honorable mention All-Jayhawk Conference at third base, while Trey DeRouen earned honorable mention All-Jayhawk Conference at first base. 12 members of Schmidt’s team graduated from PCC in May.

Softball: (17-34, 8-18 Jayhawk Conference): A down year for the softball team still yielded plenty of transfers to four-year universities. Lety Perez (Mesa State College), Alyssa Ramirez (undecided), Madison Hughes (Avila University), Naomi Hill (Central Oklahoma) and Charyse Arnold (undecided) will all make their way to four-year universities.

Men’s Basketball (18-13, 7-9): An 11-2 start cooled to a 18-13 finish as the Beavers finished their season with a loss to Cowley in the Conference tournament. Illiwa Baldwin earned first-team All-Conference at center and Monty Gordon earned All-Region. Baldwin (Nevada), Gordon (University of Montevallo) and Jay Valerius (St. Gregory’s, Okla.) will all move to four-year universities next season.

Rodeo: The PCC Rodeo Team saw four students make the short go during the 2009-10 season. Kristin Loyd made the short go in the breakaway at Garden City. Cameron Schultz made it back to the short go at the Fort Hays rodeo in the saddle bronc. At Northwester's rodeo Garret Arnett made it back in the Bull riding. At our home town rodeo Kyle Harlow came back in the steer wrestling.

Track and Field: This Beaver team made 2010 a year of many firsts. Freshman Joe Cordell broke a pair of 20-year-old school records: the shot put and weight throw. Coach Cyrus Hall’s 4x100m (42.68) and 4x400m (3:21.33) relay teams ran the fastest in Hall’s three-year tenure. Eight of 10 sophomores graduated, showing improvement on the track and in the classroom. David Cesmat and Lacey Davis both signed to run at Sterling College. Chad Yeargin plans to run at Arkansas-Pine Bluff next season. DJ Reta will continue his athletic career at Wichita State on the rowing team.