Jan Barker was named the 2017 Amarillo Globe News Woman of the Year.
Jan Barker
In 1987 Barker took over the Amarillo High volleyball program after a year at Caprock High as the girls basketball and track coach.
What she proceeded to do the next 31 years is produce a standard of excellence unmatched by any other athletic program in Amarillo ISD history.
Barker led Amarillo High to 10 state high school volleyball championships, the most team state titles by a coach in Amarillo ISD history.
Barker won her first state title in 1987 and her last one in 2016. The highlight of that run was winning four state titles in a row from 2006-09 with her two daughters playing - an accomplishment never achieved before at the state’s highest level - and compiling a 187-8 record.
Her last season at AHS, she guided the Lady Sandies to a 39-8 and finished her career with 1,116-175 record.
Barker made 14 state tournament appearances, coached 16 All-Americans and helped send more than 100 of her players off to play college, 34 of them at the NCAA Division I level.
Barker announced her retirement in November.