Jaguar cross-country teams face challenging meet at UAB

Sophomore Mackenzie Taylor leads the Jaguar women’s cross team into the Blazer Classic on Friday. (photo by Paula Toole, AU Athletics)

By Justin Brosemer |
Sports Writer

Coming off wins for their respective teams, Coach Adam Ward and the Augusta University men’s and women’s cross-country teams will participate in their second of three events for the season on Friday, Oct. 16.

Friday’s competition, the Blazer Classic, will take place in Hoover, Ala. The meet will consist of a 6-kilometer race for the women and an 8K course for the men.

The women’s 6K event will begin at 9 a.m., while the men’s 8K will start at 9:45 a.m. The results of the race can be found at www.uabsports.com after the races have been completed.

The meet is hosted annually by the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is comprised of highly-touted collegiate men’s and women’s cross-country teams. With 27 teams being represented—among which are the likes of Florida State, South Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia Tech and many more high-ranking programs—Augusta University’s cross-country teams will be tested at their highest level so far this season. Coach Ward talked about his teams’ mindset heading into this Friday’s competition and how they plan on not worrying about their steep—although deserved—expectations.

“The big thing for us is getting the opportunity to compete against the best,” Ward said. “This is a much more competitive event than our last one, and we want to show we belong there.”

Both senior men’s runner Jacob Poston and sophomore women’s runner Mackenzie Taylor both have been awarded as the Peach Belt Conference’s Runner of the Week, respectively, after both came out with an individual win in the Koala XC Classic on Oct. 3 in West Columbia, S.C.

This weekend’s event has gone through a number of changes since its announcement earlier this year. Due to COVID-19 safety regulations, no spectators will be allowed to attend the event. Masks will be required to wear until a person readies to run, and the runners will be allowed to take it off once reaching the starting point.

Each team will be separated into distanced sections on the course equipped with amenities such as bathrooms and chairs. Participating teams and coaches will be required to arrive no earlier than 90 minutes prior to the race. Coach Ward speaks about how these changes have impacted the team and how they plan on adjusting come Friday.

“We can only worry about what we can control; it shouldn’t be a big issue for us,” Ward said. “We are just ready to run.”

With events and regulations being changed with each passing day, Ward places the upmost importance on remaining focused on their attainable goals rather than having negative feelings about their missed opportunities this season due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“It’ll be a great chance to show the conference and nation how good our teams truly are,” Ward said. “The guys are giving it their all to win their second championship in a row.”

The AU men, picked to win the Peach Belt Conference title this season, enter as the third ranked team in NCAA Division II, according to the divisional coaches’ poll. Western Colorado is ranked first and the University of Alabama at Huntsville is second.

Contact Justin Brosemer at JBROSEMER@augusta.edu.