The Augusta Jaguars (formerly Augusta State Jaguars and Georgia Regents Jaguars) are the varsity athletics, consisting of six men's and seven women's sports, teams that play for Augusta University (AU) in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...

in intercollegiate sports in the Division II level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Peach Belt Conference The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The 11 member institutions are located in the South Atlantic states of South Carolina ...

(PBC) since the 1991–92 academic year; except in women's and men's golf, which those sports compete in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

level as an affiliate member of the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it ...

. Augusta competes in 13 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, tennis & track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball. AU retains the athletics legacy of Augusta State University, which merged with Georgia Health Sciences University (formerly the Medical College of Georgia) in 2013 to form Georgia Regents University. The name became Augusta University in 2015. AU's colors are a dark blue and gray. They have two main rivals: the

USC Aiken Pacers The USC Aiken Pacers are the athletic teams that represent the University of South Carolina Aiken, located in Aiken, South Carolina, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), prima ...

, located 30 minutes away and a PBC division foe, and the

Paine College Paine College is a private, historically black Methodist college in Augusta, Georgia. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Paine College offers undergraduate degrees in the liberal arts, bu ...

Lions, a city rival; Paine College is located on 15th Street across from the Health Sciences campus of AU.

Golf

Men's golf

The men's golf team has made a name for itself over the years competing at the Division I level, with multiple NCAA Championships appearances. It made history in 2010, winning the National Championship, and repeating as back-to-back champions in 2011. They annually host a collegiate tournament hosted at Forest Hills. From 2014 to 2021, the men's golf team was a member of the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

(MEAC); it was that league's first-ever associate member in any sport, and also the first school with any level of MEAC membership that was not a historically black institution. After the 2020–21 season, Augusta moved both men's and women's golf to the

. Some alumni include

Vaughn Taylor Vaughn Joseph Taylor (born March 9, 1976) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour. Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Taylor was raised in Augusta, Georgia, from infancy. After attending Hephzibah High Sch ...

Patrick Reed Patrick Nathaniel Reed (born August 5, 1990) is an American professional golfer. He has nine tournament victories on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 2018 Masters Tournament, and two World Golf Championships, the 2014 WGC-C ...

Gary Murphy Gary Murphy (born 15 October 1972) is an Irish professional golfer. Career Murphy was born in Kilkenny and began playing golf aged 11, after caddying for his father, Jim, who has played an instrumental role in the development of young golf ...

Scott Jamieson Scott Alexander Jamieson (born 13 October 1988) is an Australian soccer player who plays as a left back and captains for Melbourne City in the A-League. Club career Blacktown City Jamieson was born in Auburn, Sydney. He has previously ...

, and

Oliver Wilson Oliver John Wilson (born 14 September 1980) is an English professional golfer. Wilson was a member of the 2008 Ryder Cup, but had to wait another six years for his first European Tour win, the 2014 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Amateur car ...

2010 National Championship

The team's regular season qualified the team for the postseason with nine consecutive top-five finishes, including three wins under head coach Josh Gregory. After finishing sixth in medal play to qualify for the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's new playoff format, the Jaguars defeated

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

3-2 in the opening round,

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

4-1 in the semifinals, and host

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

3-2 to win their first national title.

Henrik Norlander Henrik Anders Norlander (born 25 March 1987) is a Swedish professional golfer, who plays on the PGA Tour. Early life Norlander was born and grew up in Danderyd, outside Stockholm, Sweden, and is son of lawyer Anders Norlander. He played both t ...

, and Mitch Krywulycz all won their matches against the top-seeded Cowboys, with Krywulycz clinching the victory on the first extra hole. In the NCAA National Championship, the team: *

; finished T-58 in the medal round, went 3-0 in match play, ended the year ranked No. 9 *

; finished 5th in the medal round, went 3-0 in match play, ended the year ranked No. 12 *Mitch Krywulycz; finished T-51 in the medal round, went 1-2 in match play, ended the year ranked No. 61 *Taylor Floyd; finished T-72 in the medal round, went 1-2 in match play, ended the year ranked No. 175 *Carter Newman; finished T-146 in the medal round, went 2-1 in match play, ended the year ranked No. 237

2011 National Championship

Featuring four future professional players on its roster, the 2011 men's golf squad took down

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

3-2 in the final after taking down Georgia Tech 3-2 and then host Oklahoma State 3-2 in the semifinals. The title made the Jags the first team since the 1984–1985 Houston squad to repeat as Division I National Champions. In the NCAA Championship, the team: *

; finished T-3, went 3-0 in match play, ended the year ranked No. 4 *

; finished T-56, went 1-2 in match play, ended the year ranked No. 16 *Carter Newman; finished T-50, went 3-0 in match play, ended the year ranked No. 108 *Mitch Krywulycz; finished T-94, went 2-1 in match play, ended the year ranked No. 121 *Olle Bengtsson; finished 139, went 0-3 in match play, ended the year ranked No. 330 Head coach Josh Gregory, who led both squads, accepted a job with his alma mater SMU after winning the second title.

Women's golf

The women's program gained steadily competing as a Division I independent on its men's counterpart, competing in back-to-back NCAA Regionals in 2011 and 2012, the team's first back-to-back postseason appearance. The teams hosts an annual tournament at Forest Hills Golf Club that attracts many top-50 teams. AU women's golf joined the Southland Conference alongside the men's team.

Basketball

Men's basketball

Men's hoops is one of the most popular sports at the university, and are frequently near the top of the PBC standings and show in the national rankings. The 2008–2010 squads set a high standard of success, going to three consecutive Elite Eights, including a national title game appearance in 2008.

Garret Siler Garret Andrew Siler (born October 25, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for Marinos de Anzoátegui of the Venezuelan Liga Profesional de Baloncesto (LPB). He formerly played center for Augusta State University (now Augusta Unive ...

graduated holding the NCAA record for field goal percentage, and played a short stint with the Phoenix Suns afterwards.

Ben Madgen Ben Madgen (born 7 February 1985) is an Australian former professional basketball player. Early life and career Born in Williamstown, South Australia, Madgen played basketball at Faith Lutheran College, Tanunda, Faith Lutheran College in Tanund ...

also enjoyed a highly decorated career as a Jaguar, and went on to a stellar career in the NBL in Australia, where he hailed from. NCAA Division II title game appearances: Two (2008, 2022)
NCAA Elite Eights: Three (2008, 2009, 2010, 2022)
NCAA Tournament appearances: Ten, most recently in 2022.

Women's basketball

The women's hoops team has had runs of success, with a 2004 Elite Eight appearance and final ranking in the top 10. They enjoyed a 20-win season in 2012, clinching the PBC East division crown. The squad competes in Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Baseball

The head baseball coach is Chris Howell. All home baseball games in 2019 are scheduled at Jaguar Field on the Forest Hills Campus after playing at

Lake Olmstead Stadium Lake Olmstead Stadium is a baseball park in Augusta, Georgia, United States. It was built between the 1994 and 1995 seasons to replace Heaton Stadium on the same site and can hold 4,822 people. The stadium also serves as an outdoor-arena style ev ...

for most of their home games from 2009 to 2013 and all of their home games from 2014 to 2018. Shannon Wilkerson set a high standard for the team, garnering Division II Player of the Year honors in 2009 and getting drafted by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

as he became the first player to earn back-to-back All-American honors.

Softball

Augusta softball plays their home games at Jaguar Field, and reached four consecutive NCAA Regionals from 2008–2012 – finishing within one game twice of advancing the Super Regionals in that span. Kacee Camp became the first Jaguar in school history to earn Academic All-American honors in 2012, batting .390 and graduating with a 3.88 GPA in Biology.

Tennis

Men's tennis

Competing in what is regarded as one of the premier tennis conferences in Division II with plenty of teams dotting the NCAA Top 25 rankings annually, the men's tennis team has enjoyed consistent success as they keep qualifying for NCAA Tournament play. In 2012, the team enjoyed its winningest season ever, notching a 19-10 record as they defeated conference foes Lander and Columbus State, then upset No. 17 Drury and No. 9-ranked Grand Valley State in consecutive matches to make their first Final Four appearance. The team finished the year ranked No. 9 and placed Bernardo Fernandes on the All-American squad, both firsts. The squad is coached by Micahel McGrath.

Women's tennis

The women's squad has earned nine NCAA Regional berths since 1999, and is coached by Michael McGrath. Their home matches are played at Newman Tennis Center. In 1992, the women's team won the Peachbelt Conference, under coach Richard Hatfield. Senior Cheri Cathey, juniors Andrea Barnes and Kimberley Kile and Freshman Courtley Winter and Aimee Woo were named to All Conference.

Volleyball

The women's volleyball team hosts their home matches in Christenberry Fieldhouse, and is coached by Sharon Bonaventure. The Jaguars still hold the PBC record for most aces per set, at 3.20 from the 1992 squad. The 2009 edition enjoyed success behind the power of Jessica Howard, who was named a Daktronics Second-Team All-American.

Cross country

Men's cross country

The men's cross country team was restarted in 2011 and immediately made an impact, winning the conference championship in 2011 and then stepping up further by finishing third in the 2013 Southeast Regional to advance to the NCAA National Championships. They host the Jaguar Invitational annually in Augusta, Ga.

Women's cross country

The women's team set a new program best by qualifying for the 2008 NCAA Championships after a second-place finish in the Southeast Regional. They won three events, with another two top-five finishes on the season. They finished second in the 2011 PBC Championships, and are coached by Adam Ward.

Professional athletes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Augusta Jaguars