Motes, Troyer, Lagan excel at Virginia Tech meet
By Kai Brickey | Sports writer
BLACKSBURG, Va.—The competition and conditions at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational were nothing short of fierce on Friday, Sept. 16.
The cross-country course featured a variety of sharp hills and turns as well as a deep field full of NCAA Division I teams, such as the Liberty Flames and Virginia Tech Hokies.
The Augusta University men and women fought valiantly to secure fifth- and eighth-place finishes, respectively. Liberty won both the men’s and women’s races.
The cross-country races saw lots of team positions changing over the hilly and cramped course with AU’s Cassie Lagan finishing in 54th in the women’s race with a time of 24:16 as the jag's new leader. Riley Triplett finished shortly behind in 61st with a time of 24:35. Caroline Pierce was third for Augusta. She finished in 64th place in 24:38.
“It felt super exciting and nerve racking to be up against such fast competition, but I felt confident at the same time because coach’s training has been working well for me this season,” said Lagan.
With such a young roster, this was also the very first time that most of Augusta’s freshman got to race a 6K.
“My first time racing a 6K didn’t feel much different from a 5K, it’s only a little bit longer and the pace is a little slower,” Madison Kennedy said. “During the race, there were a few of us girls on the team who worked together, the upperclassmen definitely have the freshman’s backs.”
Kennedy finished in 72nd with a time of 24:51 to be AU’s fourth and youngest scorer for the women.
On the men’s side, AU finally got to see the full roster compete with sophomore Patrick Motes overtaking Hans Troyer in the final 50 meters for a 20th-place finish in a time of 25:43, with Troyer finishing less than one second behind. Andrew Todd finished third for the AU men in 26:16. He finished 37th overall.
“It was a big confidence booster,” said Motes. “I didn’t panic when I saw him (Hans) there and remembered my training and the workouts we’ve ran and matched him stride for stride.”
The men’s team is still coming together with several athletes still out of competition, but the seniors believe that the fitness is coming through.
“With the plan to peak in December, it shows my summer base training has paid off as I’m already aerobically fit,” Troyer said. “Even though our foot speed isn’t there yet, it means we have a very high ceiling to work with.”
In the meantime, the Jaguars will be training through the next three weeks until they compete at the Royals Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., on Oct. 7.
Contact Kai Brickey at kbrickey@augusta.edu.
Hans Troyer (24) and teammate Patrick Motes (left) run for the finish line. Motes edged Troyer by three-tenths of a second for 20th place in the Virginia Tech race. At the top of the page, Riley Triplett (39) and Madison Kennedy (30) lead AU’s charge. (photos by David Troyer, special to the Bell Ringer)
The Jaguars’ Cassie Lagan finishes 54th in a time of 24:16 to lead the AU women's team. (photo by David Troyer, special to the Bell Ringer)
