By Jeremiah Griffin |Sports writerAugusta University’s men and women’s cross country teams both placed third at the Bulldog Stampede in Wingate, N.C., on Saturday, Sept. 21, losing out to Mount Olive and Wingate, respectively. Augusta had four top 25 finishes. Anthony Urmetz was the top runner for the Jaguars in ninth place. Rakeem Littles finished in 14th place, Chris Shelp came in at 22nd and Josh Seidan rounded out the top 25. Ryan Gallagher missed the cut, earning 31st place.Despite finishing third in their 8-kilometer, Augusta impressed by sitting its starting seven and exercising its deep depth, proving that Augusta will still be a powerful team for years to come. AU Coach Adam Ward was satisfied with the team’s performance.“Our top five guys that ran this weekend would be in the top five for most other programs, and I like that,” Ward said. “It says good things about the type of depth and quality of the program that we’re trying to establish and build.”The women’s team also performed well, finishing third in their 6K. Junior Micah Weathers earned second place with a 22:07.6 time, five seconds behind the individual winner, Mount Olive’s Leah Hanle.Ward was excited about the improvements the women’s team made at Wingate.“We closed the gap in the two to three, and we closed the gap from our four, five, and six," Ward said. "They were all about ten seconds of each other."According to Ward, work still needs to be done in continuing to close gaps, especially between three and four, but it’s hard to deny the improvements.Looking toward the next meet, on Sept. 27, in Charlotte, N.C., Ward is ready to let the teams loose.“We’re just gonna let the guys and the women just go and run hard,” said Ward. “I want them to compete.”A goal for both teams this weekend is to evaluate where they stand with the competition.“We get to see some really top ranked teams this weekend, and we get to see where we measure up against them,” Ward said. “It’s very much a learning curve.”The Augusta Jaguars men and women will travel to Charlotte for the Queen City Invite with an 8K and 5K, respectively. Contact Jeremiah Griffin at JEGRIFFIN@augusta.edu.