CCCC announces 2024 Homecoming, Hall of Fame candidates

Cloud County Community College’s 2024 homecoming queen and king will be crowned on Saturday, Jan. 27, between the men’s and women’s basketball games against Coffeyville.
 
Students will be casting their votes throughout the week to select the winners.
 
On Saturday, the Thunderbirds will play host to Coffeyville in Arley Bryant Gymnasium. The women will tip off at 2 p.m. The crowning of the king and queen will take place prior to the start of the men’s game at 4 p.m.
 
Queen candidates are: Maddie Schlyer, Concordia; Hannah Watkins, Salina; Chelsey Armbruster, Chapman; Doga Eski, Kastamonu, Turkey; and Madison Ronnebaum, Marysville.
 
King cadidates are: Myles Chamberlain, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; Cav Carlgren, Concordia; Zach Chance, Hays; Jeremiah Johnson, Salina; and Warren Abonza, Manhattan.
 
During halftime of the men’s game, four members will be inducted into the Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame – Jim and Jay Lowell, Sheila Cherry-Coleman, and Matt Bechard.
 
A sports journalist for the Concordia Blade-Empire for more than 40 years, Jim Lowell has been covering Cloud County Community College athletics throughout his time at the newspaper which includes the coverage of all five NJCAA National Championships won by Cloud teams. A 1977 graduate of Concordia High School, Lowell attended Cloud in 1977-78 before transferring to Kansas State University to earn his bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communications. Working at the Osawatomie Graphic for one year as the sports editor, Lowell returned to Concordia in February 1983 to become the sports editor of the Concordia Blade-Empire. Over the past 40 years, Lowell has reported on all Cloud athletic programs and has written more than 2,000 men's and women's basketball stories covering the T-Birds. A highlight of his time covering Cloud County athletics was the coverage provided during the 2001 NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament won by CCCC as the T-Birds became the first women's basketball program from the state of Kansas to win the NJCAA National Title.  

A familiar face at Cloud County athletic events, Jay Lowell has been covering Cloud as a sports photojournalist for the Concordia Blade-Empire for the past 27 years and has been instrumental in helping put together the annual Cloud County Community College athletics media guide that is produced by the Blade-Empire. Starting in the fall of 1997 by covering Cloud County soccer matches using a Nikon camera and 35mm film, Lowell continued that fall by covering the Cloud County cross country home meet in which he climbed a tree that had fallen across the course to get some of his photos. Lowell's first T-Bird basketball game was in November 1997 as he continued and covered every game of the 2001 NJCAA Division I Women's National Championship Tournament played in Salina and won by Cloud. During his time, Lowell has shot thousands of pictures across all the different sports that have been offered by Cloud County including soccer, basketball, volleyball, cross country, baseball, softball, track, and wrestling.  Lowell has received Kansas Press Association awards for sports pictures on multiple occasions including two first-place awards. As a supporter of the Cloud County athletic department, Lowell hosted several T-Bird student-athletes over the years including having international volleyball students live with his family during their time at Cloud County. Before his time as a sports photojournalist, Lowell played golf for one semester at Cloud County under head coach Lou Frohardt and has helped with multiple T-Bird Golf Classic tournaments that raise scholarship funds for the athletic department.  

A two-sport standout for the T-Birds, Coleman played at Cloud County from 1986-1988 and was a volleyball and basketball player where she earned First-Team All-Region VI honors in volleyball. The Salina, Kansas native helped the Cloud County volleyball team to its first NJCAA Region VI title and berth in the 1987 NJCAA National Tournament while also scoring 810 points in her two seasons on the basketball court to rank fifth in the all-time scoring chart at CCCC. 

Bechard was a member of the Cloud County track and field program under hall of fame coach Harry Kitchener from 1987-1989 where he excelled and set the still-standing outdoor track and field record in the pole vault by clearing 16’ 1”. Following his career as a T-Bird, Bechard attended Wichita State University where he won the 1990 Missouri Valley Conference indoor title in the pole vault and would go on to graduate with his bachelor's degree in 1992. Bechard was named the third athletic director in school history at Cloud County, filling the shoes of hall of fame coach and athletic director Dennis Erkenbrack. In his 25-plus years as athletic director, Bechard has assisted in completing facility upgrades for every sport and increased scholarship opportunities for student-athletes. Under his leadership, Cloud County teams have won 20 KJCCC titles, 17 NJCAA Region VI Titles, and five NJCAA National Championships. 
 
Cutline: Candidates for Cloud County Community College 2024 homecoming are, front row, left to right: Hannah Watkins, Madison Ronnebaum, Doga Eski, Maddie Schlyer, and Chelsey Armbruster. Back row, left to right, are: Jeremiah Johnson, Myles Chamberlain, Cav Carlgren, Zach Chance, and Warren Abonza.