Erin Burditt and Carlos Rodriguez |Sports writersThis past academic year for Augusta University athletics saw several Jaguar teams continue their success and some teams struggle. There were championships in men's cross-country and in (women's) volleyball. However, 2019-20 will long be remembered as the year that spring sports and the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament were cancelled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.The cancellation of athletics had happened very suddenly as the Jaguar men's hoops team was riding on a bus in a tunnel in East Tennessee on its way to Lincoln Memorial University for the opening game in the NCAA tourney when Coach Dip Metress received the news that the national tournament had been cancelled. Soon thereafter, all spring sports were cancelled at the collegiate level.But let's take a look back at the year that was, and then after that we will announce our male and female athletes of the year.Volleyball repeats; men's hoops finishes runner-up in PBCThe Jaguar volleyball team had another outstanding season under coach Sharon Quarles as the Jaguars went 29-9 on the season and went further than any team in school history has before as it advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament. The Jaguars also captured another Peach Belt Conference Tournament Title, making it back-to-back years doing so. Junior Chloe Allen put in another solid year as she made first team all-conference and the PBC all-academic team. Allen was second on the team in block assists with 109 and 118 total blocks and was second on the team with .86 blocks per set. Nicolette Ramos was named all-conference and MVP of the Peach Belt Tournament, and Jessica Hedrick made the all-tourney team.The men’s basketball team had another stellar season, although just a bit below the standard of the previous campaign. The Jags finished 21-8 overall, making it two consecutive seasons with more than 20 wins. AU was set to play in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional against Lander University, but with COVID-19 all NCAA sports and events had been cancelled for the remainder of the school year. The team didn’t have the best first couple months of the season but picked things up at the right time in February, going undefeated throughout the month for the second straight season and reached a 10-game winning streak. The Jags finished the season second place in the Peach Belt Conference. Rafael Monteiro led the Jags in scoring with 18.2 points per game and was named to the all-conference first team. Junior Tyshaun Crawford, a transfer from Georgia Southern, was second in scoring at 13.4 points per game and led the team in rebounding with 9.3 per game. In his first season as a Jag, Crawford was named to the all-conference second team.The women’s basketball team saw a great improvement this season as they made the Peach Belt Conference Tournament for the first time in four years. The team saw their win total rise by five wins from the previous year as they finished 12-17. After riding an eight-game losing streak, the Jags turned things around, winning five out of their last six games to finish seventh in the conference and advance to the conference tournament. Junior Zariya West, a transfer from Norfolk State, led the team in scoring in her first season with 10.8 points per game. Freshman Kennedi Manning was second in scoring with 10.6 points per game and led the team in rebounding with 6.8 per game. Manning was named to the Peach Belt All-Conference third team.The men’s cross-country team had their best season in school history. The Jags won four out of seven of their meets. The team won their second Peach Belt Conference Championship in the past three years and the fourth men’s conference championship in program history. In the PBC championship, the Jags had nine runners gain all-conference honors. The team then went on to place second at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals, which was the highest the team has placed in the regionals. That qualified AU for the NCAA Division II National Championship for the third consecutive season. At the regionals, six runners received all-region honors. At the NCAA Division II National Championship in Sacramento, Calif., the Jags made program history once more, placing ninth as a team, the highest the program has ever finished. The previous highest place was 23rd, which the team achieved in 2017. From 2018 to 2019 the team went from placing 28th to ninth. In addition to all these accomplishments, junior Jacob Poston had a phenomenal season, breaking the 10,000-meter cross-country school record twice, while also achieving the highest men’s individual finish at the national championship. Poston broke the 10K record of 31:08 the first time at the regionals after finishing in 31:05. He then went on to break his own record in the national championship after finishing in 30:57 and placing 48th overall, just eight spots off all-America status.The women’s cross-country team had an outstanding season, winning two out of six of their meets. At the PBC Championship the team placed third overall while having senior McKenzie Thompson and juniors Micah Weathers and Miranda Taylor named all-conference. At the NCAA Southeast Regional, Taylor and Weathers both received all-region honors after placing in the top 25. Weathers had a terrific season winning four out of seven meets. Weathers won the conference championship, making school history as the first cross country conference champion in program history. Weathers made more history as she placed 44th at the national championship, the highest any individual Jaguar has placed.The men’s and women’s track-and-field teams didn’t get to compete that much, only racing at two meets before the rest of the season was cancelled. The women’s team finished third and second at their meet while the men’s team won both meets. Some school records were broken for both teams. Junior Jacob Poston who had a great cross country season, carried on his success into track as he broke two school records in only two meets. At the Cougar Invitational, Poston broke the 3,000-meter record with a time of 8:38 while winning the race. Poston broke the 5,000-meter record at the Victor Ice Breaker Duals with a time of 14:35 while picking up another win. At the same meet the men’s 4x100m relay team consisting of senior Andre Walker and juniors Sean McCreary, Joshua Hewing and Zatrick Pearce broke a school record as well finishing in second with a time of 40.46. The time had qualified them provisionally for the NCAA Division II National Championship. The last record broken was by freshman Priscilla Ajala, whose record also happened at the Victor Ice Breaker Duals. Ajala broke the 200m record after winning the race in a time of 25.43.The AU softball team was 8-12 before its season was stopped due to the pandemic. Coach Melissa Brocato is in her 22nd season and saw her team get off to a rough start to the season, but the Jaguars turned it around as they won eight straight games and eight out of their last nine before the season was cancelled. Junior Sydney Tulin led the way for the Jags as she hit .296 on the year with five home runs and 14 RBIs.The baseball team got off to a rough start as the Jags were 4-16 before the season was cancelled. Coach Chris Howell is in his fourth season as the head coach of the baseball team and is looking to lead the Jags. Leading the way for the Jaguars offensively was Ben Markiewicz with a .364 average and a team leading 28 hits. Junior Theron Powell also put in a solid 2019 campaign as he was hitting .303 and had 16 walks, which is tied for the team lead.The Jaguar men’s golf team was off to another solid start to their season as they had four top-10 finishes, with one of those finishes being first place in the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate. Leading the way for the men’s golf team was Senior Gustav Andersson as he made the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) All-Academic team in 2020. Andersson finished fifth in the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate helping the Jags secure the win. Coach Jack O’Keefe was in his seventh season. It was also the 10th anniversary of AU winning its first NCAA Division I men's golf national championship.The women’s golf team got off to a hot start to their season as they had five top 10 finishes, with their best finish being a second-place finish in the Moon Golf Invitational. Senior Linda Lundqvist led the way for the Jags as she had her best outing during the Moon Golf Invitational as she finished tied for third place. Coach Caroline Hegg was in her fifth season as the women’s golf coach.The men’s tennis team was off to a slow start to their 2019-2020 season. They compiled a 4-8 record before play was cancelled due to the Coronavirus. They have had their hot and cold streaks throughout play. Leading the way for the Jags is sophomore Lucas Bolle as he looks to continue the success he had as a freshman after he went 12-5 overall. Bolle made the Peach Belt Conference All-Academic team in 2020. Coach Michael McGrath is one of the longest tenured coaches at Augusta University as he was in his 22nd season at the helm.The women’s tennis team was off to a 6-5 start to their 2019-2020 season. They won six matches in a row at one point before the season was cancelled. Senior Merye Gobernate led the way for the Jags as she made the Peach Belt Conference All-Academic team in 2020. Gobernate was looking to build off of her solid junior season when she went 12-4 overall during singles play and 11-6 during doubles play, before the season was suspended. Junior Maria Alice Vieira won the PBC Elite 15 Award this year. This award goes to the player who participates in the conference tournament and has the highest cumulative grade-point aveerage but was expanded to all players with the cancellation of the season. McGrath is also the coach of the women’s tennis team.AU Athletes of the YearFor the Bell Ringer Male Athlete of the Year at AU, the sports staff has chosen Rafael Monteiro from the men’s basketball team. Monteiro turned in another solid season and led the Jaguars to a 21-8 overall record with a 16-4 mark in PBC play, to go along with another NCAA Tournament appearance. Monteiro led the team in points with 18.2 points per game and he was second on the team in rebounds with 8.4 rebounds per game. Monteiro made first-team all-conference after another stellar year. He also made the NABC All-District second team. Monteiro eclipsed the 1,000-point mark against Georgia College, on Feb. 29, which was Senior Day. It takes some players to achieve that mark all four years, but it was impressive to see Monteiro do it in only two seasons. He became the 32nd player in school history to reach this milestone and ended his career 29th on the all-time scoring list. Monteiro also received PBC Elite 15 Award. Monteiro, a business administration major, finished his two years at AU with 4.0 grade-point average. He became the second AU men’s basketball player to win the Elite 15 award.Honorable mention for the men include Jacob Poston (cross-country and track); Tyshaun Crawford (basketball); Troy Cracknell (basketball); Tyree Myers (basketball); Miguel Arnold (basketball); Chase Kennedy (cross-country and track); Chandler Kennedy (cross-country and track); Hunter Kimball (cross-country and track); Derrian Wright (track and field); Joshua Hewing (track and field); Lucas Bolle (tennis), and Gustav Andersson (golf).For the Bell Ringer Female Athlete of the Year, Chloe Allen of the volleyball team and Micah Weathers of cross-country tied for first place.Allen was named to first team all-conference and the all-academic team for the PBC. She was second on the team for block assists, and she had 109 with 118 total blocks. Allen was also second on the team with .86 blocks per set. She averaged 2.15 kills per set. The Jags made it farther than they ever have after reaching the Sweet Sixteen. Allen helped the Jags win another PBC tournament title, doing so in back-to-back years and an overall record of 29-9. She was named second team all-region.
After having dealt with an injury during the cross-country season the year before, Weathers was able to have a healthy and successful year filled with many accomplishments. Weathers had arguably the best individual season in school history. Weathers won four out of the seven meets she ran in and her lowest placement aside from the national championship was third.Weathers achieved three new personal bests this season with 14:36 in the 4-kilometer race, 18:01 in the 5K and 21:03 in the 6K. She became the first cross-country conference champion in school history, running the 5K in a 18:03, beating out the runner-up by 45 seconds. Weathers automatically qualified for the NCAA Division II national championship after placing third in the Southeast Regional. In the national championship in California, she ran the 6K in 21:03, her new personal best, placing 44th, only four spots off of All-American honors. Weathers 44th place is the highest individual placement in school history.Honorable mention for the women include Nicolette Ramos (volleyball); Kylie Martin (volleyball); Kennedi Manning (basketball); Kiera Howard (basketball); Zairya West (basketball); Edrei Yates (track and field); Priscilla Ajala (track and field); Linda Lundqvist (golf); Sydney Tulin (softball); Madeline Libby (softball); Ana Faria (tennis), and Merye Gobernate (tennis).
Contact Erin Burditt and eburditt@augusta.edu and Carlos Rodriguez at CARRODRIGUEZ@augusta.edu.