COLBY, Kan. – After winning last year’s NJCAA Plains District Title and an automatic berth into the 2023 NJCAA Division 1 men’s soccer national tournament, Cowley Community College has been picked to win the 2024 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 1 men’s soccer preseason order of finish as voted on by league coaches on Tuesday, August 13th.

Earning 48 total points and six of seven first-place votes, Cowley is coming off a 16-4-1 overall record last season while going 1-0-1 in the NJCAA Division 1 National Tournament after being put in Pool D with eventual National Champion Monroe Community College. The Tigers outscored opponents 73-17 last season, playing their last six games of the year unbeaten after suffering a three-game losing streak in early October to make it to the National Tournament for a third straight year. Two returning All-KJCCC selections for Cowley Andre Ecker and Takeru Chiba will return for 2024 for the Tigers.

Reigning KJCCC Division 1 men’s soccer regular-season champion Barton Community College has been picked to finish second with 41 points after winning the program’s 12th KJCCC Title last year as part of an 18-4-4 overall record and 9-1-2 mark in the KJCCC. Finishing as the Plains District runner-up last year, Barton received an at-large bid into the 2023 NJCAA Division 1 men’s soccer national tournament where the Cougars went 1-1 in pool play and into a tiebreaker scenario where BCC avenged a loss to Indian Hills with a 4-3 win in penalty kicks before falling to Salt Lake Community College 1-0 in a game that sent the winner into the National Semifinals.

A tie for third in the preseason order of finish saw both Dodge City and Kansas City Kansas Community College earn 28 points with the Conquistadors receiving the lone remaining first-place vote following a third-place finish last year as part of a 10-5-2 overall record. KCKCC went 7-6-3 last season and defeated the Conquistadors in the Region VI Playoffs opening round before seeing their season end with a defeat to Barton.

The rest of the poll saw Garden City picked fourth with 20 total points under first-year head coach Oscar Zelaya followed by second-year program Seward County (18 points) picked sixth and Coffeyville (13 points) picked seventh.

Garden City will kick off the 2024 season on Thursday, August 22nd with a non-conference home match against Pratt while Coffeyville and Barton will both have road matches in Oklahoma to begin their seasons on Friday, August 23rd. The remaining teams will begin their seasons over the weekend of the 24th and 25th with conference action beginning on Wednesday, August 28th with Barton at Dodge City and KCKCC at Seward County.