Augusta track and field breaks school records at PBC Championships
By Justin Brosemer | Sports writer
The Augusta University men and women’s track and field teams placed fourth and sixth, respectively, on April 30-May 1 at the Peach Belt Conference Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Both teams produced several all-conference performers in the meet at Embry-Riddle University all while getting school records in the process.
The men’s team had six all-conference performers, where each of their top-three finishers were named all-conference. The women earned four all-conference awards. Both teams would establish one AU record apiece during the two-day event.
Senior Hunter Kimball, the AU male athlete of the year, won the 3,000-meter steeplechase en route to becoming the PBC champion and eclipsing the previous school record with a time of 9:14.91. Kimball also went on to place second in the 10,000 meters.
Mackenzie Taylor, the AU women’s athlete of the year, placed third in the 5,000 with a time of 18:14.29.
The women team’s newfound school record would come at the hands—or legs—of rising competitor Priscilla Ajala, who finished third in the 200, establishing a school record in 24.96. She finished second in the 100-meter dash.
Other notable finishes for the women included Jaelen Alexander tying a school record in the 800 meters with a time of 2:21.14 and Cassie Lagan placing third in the 10,000 with a time of 39:18.14.
For the men, a plethora of runner-up finishes were earned over the course of the event. Firstly, Derrian Wright gained a second-place finish in the 800 meters with a time of 1:52.68. Kai Brickey also finished second in the 1500-meter run with a time of 3:56.51. Chris Shelp finished second in the 5,000 with a time of 15:09.83. Hans Troyer rounded out the Jags’ runner-up finishes with a second-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, as well as tacking on a third-place finish in the 10,000.
The AU men’s 4x100-meter relay team finished third with a team comprised of Thomas Lollis, Imo Sunday, Jared Talman and Daniel Forrester.
Two AU track members would go on the win Peach Belt Conference men's track and field awards. One went to Talman, who made the PBC All-Sportsmanship team, and the other went to Skylar Ackerman, earning one for her placement on the women’s PBC All-Sportsmanship team.
The Augusta University men and women track and field teams now prepare for their final meet of the regular season at the Last Chance Meet on Saturday, May 15. That meet will be held at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn.
Contact Justin Brosemer at jbrosemer@augusta.edu.
