Senior Jaiden Brandt finishes fifth to pace Jaguars to eighth-place spot
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Senior Jaiden Brandt finished fifth overall at the eighth annual Charlotte Invitational at McAlpine Park to help pace the Jaguar men to an eight-place finish in the men’s 27-team 8K gold race on Saturday morning, Sept. 28 in Charlotte, N.C.
Coming off a second-place finish at the Jaguar Invitational on Sept. 20, Brandt notched a top-five spot in 25:18.2 Teammate and senior Dustin Ross came in at 20th in 25:42.8, senior Shane Huckeba crossed at 26:39.7 for 61st and freshman Nick Del Guercio notched 63rd in 26:39.7.
Senior Matt Johnson came in with a time of 27:18.4 for 98th, freshman Caleb Watson took 140th in 28:13.8 and Adam Aldridge rounded out the Jags at 146th in 28:24.2. The GRU Augusta Men’s Cross Country Assistant Coach Pardon Ndhlovu ran unattached to win the overall event in 24:46.6.
The top-team finishers of the men’s gold race were Mississippi State, North Kentucky, Charlotte, Virginia Military Institute, and North Florida. The Jags notched eighth behind Peach Belt Conference rivals Columbus State in seventh. Junior Bryce Conway (28:38.3) and Jesse Campbell (29:10.6) ran alone for the Jags in the men’s 8K green race to finish 26th and 35th in the 73-man field.
In the women’s 6K gold race, the Jaguar women were led by freshman Leah Rife (22:51.7) who finished 51st just ahead of GRU junior Jessica Carpenter (22:52.1) in 52nd. Freshman Jordan Humphrey placed 61st in 23:03.6, freshman Rachel Garabedian took 83rd in 23:24.6, and Olivia Rodriguez (24:47.7) and Tia Ponsell (27.58.2) took 135th and 184th.
GRU Augusta took 14th in the team score, while Mississippi State, Charlotte, North Florida, Davidson, and Florida State took the top-five spots. Junior Emma Neigel, of Miss. State, won the gold race in 21:24.0. In the women’s 6K green race, Paige Way took 30th for GRU Augusta in 25:07.9, Morgan Ryffe 36th in 25:16.7, and Emily Menendez came in at 26:01.1 for 52nd.
View the 2013 Charlotte Invitational page here!
McAlpine Creek Park was the host site for last year’s NCAA Southeast Regional and this year serves as the host again and also for the Jags’ next meet on Friday, Oct. 11 at the Royals Creek Cross Country Challenge.