By Jeremiah Griffin |Sports writerThe Augusta University men captured the Peach Belt Conference cross-country championship on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Luther Britt Park in Lumberton, N.C., and AU's Micah Weathers won the women's championship.The men won their fourth title in eight years in a dominant outing where seven of AU’s runners placed in the top 10. Junior Jacob Poston was the top finisher for the Jaguars, coming in third. He ran a 24:56.05 for the 8-kilometer course. Chase Kennedy took fifth, Chandler Kennedy sixth, Hunter Kimball seventh and Jacob Burgamy eighth. Joshua Chepkesir of host UNC Pembroke won the men's race in 23:48.1. Teammate Silus Kipkoech was second.In addition to the championship day for the AU men, the women shined as well, finishing third at the meet, and the top Jag runner made history for Augusta University.Junior Micah Weathers became the first Jaguar, man or woman, in the university’s history to take home the individual crown. The junior from Statham won the 5K race in 18:03.22.“There’ve been a lot of talented men and women to come through [AU] before, and she’s the first one to do it,” AU Coach Adam Ward said. “That says a lot about who she is.”Weathers, who was named Peach Belt Conference Women’s cross-country runner of the year, had a convincing win. The second-place finisher was 45 seconds behind her.“Micah had a plan that we wanted to stick with,” Ward said. “She’s insanely fit right now, and I can’t wait to see what she can do at regionals and hopefully her and her teammates at nationals after that.”Teammate McKenzie Knudsen finished in eighth place overall, and Miranda Taylor was ninth.Ward also praised the men for their patience and resolve throughout the race resulting in an outstanding win.“They didn’t get impatient, and they didn’t panic,” Ward said.With regionals fast-approaching, Ward is not looking to shake anything up in practice methods.“We’ve got a set routine of what everything looks like, but the big thing is we stick to what works for us and our athletes,” Ward said.Both AU cross-country teams travel to Wingate, N.C., for the NCAA Southeast Regional on Nov. 9, hungry for a chance to compete at the nationals.
Contact Jeremiah Griffin at JEGRIFFIN@augusta.edu.