AU cross-country opens season in Columbia
By Justin Brosemer |
Sports writer
Coach Adam Ward and the Augusta University men and women cross-country teams are readying for their first of three meets for their shortened season in West Columbia, S.C., at the Koala XC Classic.
The meet is hosted by Columbia College annually and is composed collegiate men and women cross country runners from the Southeast. The women will run 6,000 meters and the men 8,000 meters.
The race will be held this Saturday, Oct. 3 and will be located specifically at the Par Tee Golf Center, 3209 Charleston Highway, in West Columbia.
The race will be held on a 2-kilometer circular track, in which men will complete it four times to finish their respective 8K event. For women, the runners will be required to lap the track three times to finish their 6K event. The top seven from each event will place in the competition, with others being up for individual awards but not scored. Five runners score for the team competition, with the lowest score winning the meet.
Coming off its best season yet, Augusta University men’s cross country is determined to show much it has improved in a year. There will be no national championship race this year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, but the entire team except one senior (Hunter Kimball) will be back next year. Then, the Jaguars hope to become the highest-placing PBC program in NCAA National Championship history this year after tying Kennesaw State’s team last year for highest national championship finish in PCB history at ninth.
The 2020 men’s Jaguars would subsequently be ranked at No. 8 in The Stride Report’s preseason rankings and placed first in the Peach Belt Conference preseason poll. Ward was quoted in an interview with The Bell Ringer as saying “they’ve been put in a ton of hard work, our folks are about as fit as they have been in a long time,” he said, “they’re just ready to unleash it.” This high regard for the men’s team is well deserved, and the men plan on carrying their success into this season.
Augusta University’s women’s cross country team is coming off one of its strongest previous years as well. The women’s team placed third in the Peach Belt Conference Championship, as well as placing sixth in the NCAA regionals.
Due to the lack of seniors on this year’s team, the squad will lean on their upperclassmen Miranda Taylor (senior), Madison Congdon (junior) and their only sophomore, Jaelen Alexander.
“We will definitely be leaning on our upperclassmen to lead in competitions and day-to-day activities,” Ward said.
However, he assured me that the freshmen are “among the most talented freshmen to come into a year” and that “they have been working harder than any freshmen class before.” Regardless of their obstacles, the women Jaguars were predicted to place second in a preseason PBC coach’s poll with high regard from peers.
With the COVID-19 pandemic looming over the cross-country season since March causing mass cancellations and unpredictability in regard to collegiate sports, both men and women’s cross-country teams are excited for the opportunity to compete this upcoming weekend.
Contact Justin Brosemer at jbrosemer@augusta.edu.
