Brickey, AU men win Peach Belt XC championship for fourth straight year
By Joshua Picklesimer | Sports writer
BEECH ISLAND, S.C.—Saturday, Nov. 5, is a day the Augusta University men’s cross-country team will remember for a long time.
Led by senior Kai Brickey, the Jaguars captured the Peach Belt Conference cross-country championship at Redcliffe Plantation with a perfect score. Brickey led the Jaguar men to their fourth straight league title—and fifth in the last six years. In total, AU has now won seven PBC men’s XC crowns. It was Brickey’s second straight individual PBC crown.
The Jaguars totaled the minimum of 15 points, sweeping the first six spots, with Hans Troyer coming in second and Avery Jaynes taking third. They were followed by Thomas Rischar, Patrick Motes and Carlos Rodriguez. All of those Jags made the all-conference team. Flagler finished second with 51 points.
Brickey ran the 8-kilometer Redcliffe course in 25 minutes and 3.3 seconds. Troyer finished in 25:19.2.
This was definitely a surreal moment for Brickey after battling with injuries and COVID-19 complications since the beginning of the season.
“There was times during this season where we didn’t even know if he was going to be able to run at all this year, so I’m definitely happy for him,” said AU Coach Jacob Burgamy.
As evidence again Saturday, Augusta University is a powerhouse in NCAA Division II cross-country. This is Burgamy’s first season as head coach and he has met the standard with getting his team ready.
Interestingly, Burgamy, who was named men’s coach of the year, was on the XC team that started this run of winning four championships in a row.
“The standard of our team is first, as well as myself, and we showed that today,” Brickey said.
Brickey noted that the Jaguars ran in a pack througout the race. Toward the end, with Flagler’s top runner well behind, most in the AU pack decided to slow down.
“I didn’t get the memo,” said Brickey, who sprinted to the finish line.
Some of the pack flashed four fingers as they crossed the line on a damp November morning. One of them, Motes, was named PBC men’s runner of the year.
The Jaguar men have the Southeast Regionals at Wingate in North Carolina coming up in two weeks, and Saturday’s conference meet was a opportunity for them to prepare for it.
AU President Brooks Keel, Athletics Director Ryan Erlacher and Melissa Brocato were all in attendance as the Jaguars won yet another PBC championship. Brocato, who at the time was interim AD, hired Burgamy in August when veteran coach Adam Ward decided to take a post at NCAA Division I Maine.
Nobody smiled brighter than Brocato when the conference announced Burgamy was men’s coach of the year at the awards ceremony Saturday. And Ward was one of the first to congratulate his former team on social media when the results came in.
Contact Joshua Picklesimer at jpicklesimer@augusta.edu.
Hans Troyer (26) and Avery Jaynes (16) cross the finish line at the Peach Belt Conference Championships at Redcliffe Plantation; Jaynes flashes four fingers on his right hand as the Jaguars won their fourth straight and seventh PBC title in 12 years. At the top of the page, senior Kai Brickey wins the PBC individual championship (photos by Madison Keel)
