MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The GRU Augusta men's outdoor track and field team placed fourth out of nine teams at the 2015 Peach Belt Conference Championships, hosted by the University of Montevallo, in Montevallo, Ala. The Jaguars' fourth-place mark is their best finish at the conference championships since its inception in 2013.
The Shorter Hawks won both the men's and women's championships and Nova Southeastern finished runner up for both the men's and women's as well.
The PBC announced the Track Sportsmanship, Elite 15, and Coach of the Year honors as well at the conference championship. GRU's Taylor Coxwell of the men's team and JaVoni Canty of the men's team were named to the PBC Sportsmanship team. For all winners click here
GRU had two first-place finishes in day-one competition on Thursday, April 16 and were the leading the entire event by nine points with two more days to go. Senior Dustin Ross blazed the 1500m run and won the event out of 31 racers in 3:49.78 on Thursday. Ross outkicked the competition to win his second championship in back-to-back style. Ross also won the 800m run in 1:51.24.
Senior Christian Collier's hard work paid off in the finals of the men's long jump, as the Jaguar won the event overall out of 20 competitors with a distance of 7.29m to set the Peach Belt Conference record.
For the men's 10k, Nick Del Guercio placed second on the heels of first place with a time of 31:46.04. Taylor Coxwell posted a second-place mark in the 400m dash and a third-place finish in the 100m dash in 11.55. Joseph Lozano placed third with a height of 3.71m in the men's pole vault competition – breaking the pole vault record for GRU.
Taylor Coxwell went on to win the decathlon, highlighted by first-place marks in the discus throw and 110m hurdles and a second-place mark in the javelin toss.
Sean-Michael Rand won the high jump – it was Rand's seventh first-place finish this year. Rand leaped 1.98m to win the event over 11 athletes. Rand and Collier finished second and third in the triple jump on Saturday
For full results and scoring for every event click here
2015 PBC CHAMPIONSHIPS
1. Shorter University
2. Nova Southeastern University
3. UNC Pembroke
4. GRU Augusta
5. Univ. of Alabama-Huntsville
6. University of Montevallo
7. Florida Tech
8. Columbus State University
9. Clayton State University
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