Topeka ? The winners of one of the largest Powerball prizes ever won in Kansas have stepped forward to claim their winnings.

Lt. Gov. John Moore and Kansas Lottery Executive Director Ed Van Petten on Monday introduced the 44 winners of the largest Powerball prize ever won in Kansas, without hitting the jackpot, and presented them with an oversized check on the south steps of the State Capitol. The winners will share $853,492.

Thirty-four of the winners are members of the unit known as the “Kansas Coyotes” the 190th Air Refueling Wing of the Kansas Air National Guard, based at Forbes Field in Topeka, according to a news release from the Kansas Lottery Commission. Nine are friends and family members. One is a member of the Kansas Army Guard. All are from Topeka or the surrounding area.

They pooled their money in an attempt to win the $340 million record-breaking Powerball jackpot in the Oct. 19 drawing. The winning numbers were 7, 21, 43, 44, 49, and 29 for the Powerball. Their ticket was 7, 21, 43, 44, 49, and 26 for the Powerball.

“I knew we had won $200,000 for matching the first five numbers,” said Chief Master Sgt. Select Ivan Perez. “But it wasn’t until I called the Kansas Lottery office that I learned about the extra $653,492. I was absolutely thrilled!”

Forty-eight other tickets sold in the United States matched the first five numbers but not the Powerball.

The “Kansas Coyotes” group has been pooling their money for Powerball drawings for several years. Every time the jackpot reaches $100 million, they start another pool.

“I’ve had my speech ready for years,” said Perez, who organized the pool and claimed the ticket for the group. “I asked everybody to come to one of our meeting rooms during the morning break. As they came in, I gave each one a Styrofoam cup filled with water.

“‘One of our tickets did pretty good,’ I told them. It matched all five of the first five numbers, which pays $200,000. And, guess what? They’re running a special!”

Then Sgt. Perez pulled down a screen on which he had written: $853,492.

“Everybody cheered, and we had a big toast with our Styrofoam cups and our water,” he said. “It’s a great win. It’s not enough to really change a person’s life, but it sure is going to benefit a lot of people.”

After mandatory federal and state taxes are withheld, the group will split $597,444. Each winner will receive from $4,631 to $27,788, after taxes, depending on the amount each contributed to the $215 they used to buy tickets for the Oct. 19 drawing.

The drawing produced 91,671 Kansas Lottery winners at all prize levels. The record-breaking $340 million jackpot was won on a single ticket in Oregon.

“The 190th Air National Guard Air Refueling Wing has a commendable record of service to our country. More than 100 members have deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and surrounding counties in just the last six months. Members have also been called upon to aid in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,” Moore said. “Now 34 members of the unit … have won over $850,000. I am very happy for these winners. It is a real pleasure for me to be part of this ceremony.”