Flotrack will head to Albuquerque this Friday and Saturday for the National Junior College Indoor Championships, annually a preview of some of the best up and coming talent in the country. Known simply as “JUCO”, the NJCAA has produced countless NCAA All-Americans and Olympic medalists, including notable Americans Tyson Gay and Doc Patton. 

 

Many unknown distance runners have become superstars while competing at the junior college level, among them Sally Kipyego (South Plains) and Abdi Adirahman (Pima), who both would go on to become Olympians. Kipyego went on to win three straight NCAA cross country titles at Texas Tech before earning a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games, while Abdirahman has made four Olympic teams from 2000-2012. 

 

Some of the biggest names in the NCAA today are recent NJCAA transplants- distance standouts Kemoy Campbell and Stanley Kebenei of Arkansas, and sprint stars Shavez Hart of Texas A&M and Vernon Norwood of LSU were all discovered during their two years at a junior college. Brand new 60m NCAA record holder Remona Burchell of Alabama won two NJCAA titles at Butler CC before moving on to Tuscaloosa in 2014. 

 

In anticipation of this year’s de facto NCAA combine aka NJCAA Championships, let’s look back on the early career’s of some of the most accomplished track stars in JUCO history. 

 

SPRINTS

Tyson Gay (Barton County CC ’03)

Before setting the American record in the 100m dash (9.77) and winning three World titles, Tyson Gay competed at the NJCAA level for Barton County Community College (Kan.) from 2002-2003. Gay helped the Cougars win back-to-back NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in his two years at Barton, winning the 100m title in 2002. Gay went on to win the NCAA 100m title for the University of Arkansas in 2004. 

 

Darvis “Doc” Patton (Garden City CC ’98)

Doc Patton is best known for his appearances on the US 4x100m relay teams, winning World titles in 2003 and 2007, while earning the Olympic silver medal in both 2004 and 2012 as a part of Team USA. Long before his glory days on the international track circuit, Patton competed for Garden City Community College (Tex.) from 1997-1998, earning eight JUCO All-American honors. Patton won the 1998 NJCAA outdoor long jump before moving on to TCU, where he focused more on sprinting.

Veronica Campbell-Brown (Barton County CC ’00)
Like Tyson Gay, VCB traveled the Barton CC- Arkansas- Olympian pipeline on her way to becoming one of the best track athletes of all time. Before Campbell-Brown won three Olympic golds and four World Championship titles, she dominated the NJCAA winning four titles between the 60m, 100m, and 200m indoors and outdoors in 2000. Later that year, the 18-year-old VCB won her first Olympic medal in Sydney, anchoring the Jamaican 4x100m team to a silver medal. 

 

 

MULTIS

Hyleas Fountain (Barton County CC ’02)

The future Olympic silver medalist (2008) won five NJCAA titles in her two years at Barton, winning back-to-back titles in the heptathlon and the 100m hurdles, as well as the high jump in 2002. Fountain went on to win six USA Championships, five in the outdoor heptathlon, and set the then American record in the pentathlon in 2010 with 4,753 points at the World Indoor Championships. Fountain also won four NCAA titles during her two years at Georgia. 

 

DISTANCE

Sally Kipyego (South Plains College ’06)
Kipyego won six national titles during her JUCO years in what would turn out to just be a preview of her reign over collegiate distance running. The Kenyan holds South Plains records in every distance from 1,500m to 10,000m, and still holds the NJCAA outdoor meet records in the 1,500m ( 4:22.63) and 5,000m (16:48). Kipyego transferred to Texas Tech after leaving SPC, tying the NCAA record with nine individual titles in her two and a half years as a Red Raider, a feat that took Suzy Favor-Hamilton four years. Kipyego went on to win the silver medal in the 10,000m at the London Olympics in 2012. 
 

 

Plenty of other athletes got their start in the NJCAA. Here are the American JUCO track alums who competed in the 2012 Olympic Games:

 

- Isiah Young, 200m (Allen County)

- Hyleas Fountain, Heptathlon (Barton County)

- Tyson Gay, 100m, 4x100m (Barton County)

- Chelsea Hayes, Long Jump (Butler)

- Darvis “Doc” Patton, 4x100m (Garden City)

- Trell Kimmons, 4x100m (Hinds)

- Brittney Reese, Long Jump (Mississippi Gulf Coast)

- Ryan Bailey, 100m (Rend Lake)

- Abdi Abdirahman, Marathon (Pima)

 

You can watch the future of track and field on display this weekend on Flotrack. CLICK HERE to watch the NJCAA Track and Field Indoor Championship LIVE on Flo this Friday and Saturday.