CCCC Hall of Fame class includes Lowells
On January 27, Cloud County Community College (CCCC) will enshrine four individuals into the 17th Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame class. They are Sheila Cherry-Coleman, Matt Bechard, and The Concordia Blade-Empire's Jim Lowell and Jay Lowell.
The Lowell brothers join their father, Brad Lowell, in the Hall of Fame.
Jim Lowell, a sports journalist, has been covering CCCC athletics for over 41 years. He is honored to join his father, who was on the steering committee that founded CCCC, in the Hall of Fame. “Anytime you're placed in the same category with a man who did so much for that institution, it's humbling.”
Jim Lowell covered all five NJCAA National Championships won by CCCC teams. In 41 years, he estimates he has written over 2,500 stories just on the CCCC men's and women's basketball teams.
Those stories come with a lot of memories. “The biggest thing was the women's basketball national championship in 2001,” Lowell said. “It was challenging because it was all happening so fast, but that was also about as much fun as I ever had being a sportswriter. Seward County was the number one team in the country. They'd beaten Cloud twice already that year, and the score wasn't even close. To win that Region VI game against Seward really set them on a course to the national championship.”
With over four decades of interviews to his credit, Jim Lowell has met a lot of interesting people at
CCCC. “The coaches are often times characters,” he said. “But there's only been three women's basketball coaches in my 41 years of covering Cloud. And one Harry Kitchener. That's remarkable.”
Photo journalist Jay Lowell, who has been covering CCCC athletics for nearly three decades, is also honored by the Hall of Fame induction. “It's nice to know that your efforts are appreciated,” he said. “It's cool to be up there on the wall with dad. I guess it means you've been around a long time.”
Being right there on the court with his camera, close to the action, is always a thrill for Lowell. “The girls (basketball team) winning the national championship was very memorable. Being on the court and seeing the girls' excitement, the crowd... the whole community was really invested in that team. It was kind of special.”
Jay Lowell's work with the camera has garnered him several Kansas Press Association (KPA) awards. “I remember it was right after we switched to digital (cameras). There was a basketball game at Cloud and Garrett Farha dove for a loose ball. His face was clear as day, and he had both arms around the ball while he was trying to call timeout with his hands. That photo won a KPA award. With digital cameras you didn't have to spend hours in the darkroom anymore. You could look at the photos right there on the camera as it happened.”
Jay Lowell also found himself in some interesting spots trying to get the right shot. “One time I almost got stuck in a tree. (Harry) Kitchener was coach of the cross country team, and he'd laid out a course by the river, and there was this tree that kind of hung over the course. Being young back then, I decided to climb the tree and get shots of the runners as they passed by. When it was over I wondered: now how the heck am I going to get down from here?”
Combined, Jim and Jay Lowell have invested nearly three-quarters of a century of journalistic coverage at CCCC athletic events. That is, truly, Hall of Fame credentials.
Their father would be proud.
Bio information about the Hall of Fame class includes:
Matt Bechard - 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.
Sheila Cherry-Coleman - 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.
Jim Lowell - 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.
Jay Lowell - 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 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.