By JoAnn Lindfors |ContributorThe Augusta University men and women hosted the 2018 Jaguar XC Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 22, in Beech Island, S.C., where the Jaguar men held the top spot throughout the race and took the title for the third straight season. The Jaguar women also performed well and placed third overall. AU’s men had a dominating performance, beating Georgia College and Clayton State, who rounded out the top three.For the men, AU sophomore Jacob Poston placed first individually, completing the 8-kilometer (4.97 Mile) course in 25 minutes, 21.1 seconds. AU sophomore Hunter Kimball and senior Noah Hulett finished behind Poston with times of 26:02.0 and 26:26.3 to place second and third overall, respectively.They were followed up by freshmen Jacob Brenneman, Chandler Kennedy, Rakeem Littles, Kai Brickey, Hans Troyer, Josh Seiden, Chris Shelp, Anthony Urmetz, Ryan Gallagher and Chris Strickland in the second race of the season. The Jags had earlier raced at UGa.
The AU women were led by sophomore Micah Weathers, finishing first overall individually with a time of 18:21.8. Junior McKenzie Knudsen and graduate student Helen Rendich finished second and third for the Jaguars, posting times of 19:48.8 and 20:47.5 to finish sixth and 22nd, respectively.Sinead O’Bryant, Miranda Taylor, Madison Congdon and Rachel Hammesfahr also competed for the AU women, who finished behind the University of North Georgia and Georgia College.Excitement and cheering from the crowd led the racers to aggressively push forward throughout the competition on a clear, humid September morning.The next event for the AU cross country teams is the North Georgia Invitational in Gainesville, Ga. The meet is hosted by the University of North Georgia. It will take place on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 9 am.