AU men’s cross-country eyeing third straight PBC title; Taylor looks to repeat as women's champion

By Chris Rickerson | Sports editor

Augusta University men’s and women’s cross-country teams will compete for the Peach Belt Conference Championship Saturday, Oct. 23, in Fairburn, Ga.

The men’s team will be looking to win their third straight conference title and its fourth in five years. 

“We need to run as a team and not make any silly mistakes by another team jumping out to a big lead,” said AU cross-country coach Adam Ward. “We have to be patient and realize things will happen the way we expect them to, without making a lot of unforced errors.”

AU’s men team is led by one of the top NCAA Division II runners in junior Kai Brickey, who is a three-time PBC runner of the week in each of his races this fall. Last race Brickey finished second at the Alexander Asics Invitational, helping the Jags get a first place finish as they defeated some PBC teams along with a couple Division I teams on the same course they’ll race this weekend.

“If we execute the way I think were capable of and the way we should, we can win, but the guys do not need to be caught up in how we win; we just want to win the easiest way possible,” said Ward. 

The AU women are searching for their first PBC title in school history. Ward says the women must have a little different gameplan in this race than the men. 

“We got to be a little more aggressive and be prepared for what the two top teams in Flagler and North Georgia are going to do,” said Ward. “We need to make sure we’re in a good position, but not overcompensate early for things we haven’t done in the past couple races. We need to match their intensity, but not beat their intensity early in the race.”

Junior Mackenzie Taylor has led the women’s team each race and has also won runner of the week three times, owning the top three times in the 5K for the PBC this season. Taylor will be looking to win back-to-back PBC individual titles. 

While the women have not been as dominate as the men’s team, Ward knows they have what it takes to win the race.

“If things go the way I think they can, the women have a shot at being top two and even conference champions,” said Ward. “It comes down to their execution and they have really impressed me these past couple weeks and if we can manifest those things into a good performance, they can pull of something pretty exciting.” 

The women’s 5K event will begin at 9 a.m., followed by the men’s 8K event at 10:15 a.m. 

Contact Chris Rickerson at crickerson@augusta.edu.