AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The Peach Belt Conference has named Augusta State's Adam Ward as the 2012 PBC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. The announcement was made at the conclusion of the PBC Championships in Montevallo, Ala., on Saturday, Oct. 20.
Voted on by the conference's head coaches before the championship race, the Coach of the Year award marks the sixth time in his career he has been honored by his peers in the league. Now in his ninth season at the helm of the Jaguar Cross Country programs, Ward had been named women's Coach of the Year on the first five occasions, making this his first award for the men's program.
Under Ward this season, the Jags have had 11 runners finish in the top 25 in five meets, with seven runners finishing in the top 10 at the Falcon Classic and junior Dustin Ross winning the individual contest. As hosts to the Jaguar Invitational on Friday, Oct. 5, ASU finished second at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga., with sophomore Jaiden Brandt taking second individually.
In 2011, in their first year of reinstatement, Ward took the Jaguars to their first men's PBC Championship and won the team title overall with four runners in the top 10 and Dustin Ross leading the team with a fourth-place finish.
ASU Cross Country is now preparing for the NCAA Southeast Regional at McAlpine Park, in Charlotte, N.C. on Saturday, Nov. 3.