Written by John Cusick, additional commentary and edits by Garrett Zatlin
The Augusta Jaguars are no stranger to freshman class rankings as they were our third-best incoming class for 2021. And now as the evaluation begins for the rookies for the 2022-2023 calendar year, the Jaguars are boasting a top group of youngsters yet again, this time positioning themselves at The Stride Report #3 spot once more.
And that ranking is for a good reason!
The Jags have brought in 12 (!) total recruits to help shape their team moving forward. The combination of those two recruiting classes should set up Augusta to be nationally competitive in the somewhat near future.
The first two recruits we will discuss have the ability/potential to step in almost immediately and help the Jaguars out on the grass and the oval. In fact, they already played a role this past fall.
The first name who we'll talk about is
Kaleb Ellis who hails from Harris County High School based out of Hamilton, Georgia.
Ellis holds personal bests of 2:06 (800), 4:24 (1600), 9:15 (3200) and 15:16 (5k XC). Admittedly, his 800 meter and 1600 meter times don't suggest that Ellis is a middle distance stalwart. However, his 3200 meter and cross country 5k times tell us that he could thrive as a top name in the NCAA, especially if he opts to move up to the 10k in the spring.
And sure enough, this Georgia native was already to make his way onto the cross country course (in an Augusta singlet) this past fall.
Ellis capped his 2022 cross country season with a 41st place finish at the PBC XC Championships. Nothing stellar, but nothing terrible. And given that he's a true freshman competing at a distance that he's likely unfamiliar with, a few of his races still felt pretty solid.
Ellis' senior season of high school finished with him taking home three top-10 finishes at the Georgia State Championships between a variety of seasons.
He was 5th at the Georgia XC State Championships before finishing 7th in the 1600 meters and 4th in the 3200 meters at the Georgia Track & Field State Championships in the spring. Overall, Ellis had six top-10 finishes throughout his career at one of the highest levels of Georgia athletics (5A/6A), meaning that he should translate well against more robust competition in the NCAA.
Let's now transition to
Andrew Cole who graduated from Harrison High School in Kennesaw, Georgia. He is the second athlete with the chance to make an immediate impact for the Jags (and he already has).
Cole holds high school personal bests of 2:04 (800), 4:24 (1600), 9:27 (3200) and 15:44 (5k XC), all while competing in the treacherous ranks of 7A athletics in Georgia.
Cole, like Ellis, donned a uniform for Augusta this past fall and found himself finishing 26th at the PBC XC Championships before being held off of the team's postseason roster.
Cole was a top-10 finisher in cross country at the Georgia 7A XC State Championships before ultimately ending his high school career with a 12th place finish in the 1600 meters and a 13th place finish in the 3200 meters at the Georgia 7A Track & Field State Championships.
You have to love the championship experience that Cole brings to this team. He (subtly) got better as the 2022 cross country season unfolded and seems like he could be due for a few personal bests on the oval.
Ellis and Cole have already seen action for the Jaguars upon their arrival on campus, and it's understandable why. On paper, their high school resumes hold the most firepower of any other rookie in this freshman class.
But that pair of Georgia natives aren't the only ones who competed in the postseason for Augusta this past. In fact, we actually saw
Andrew Helfers (East Coweta HS), Shazeb Rashid (Mill Creek HS) and
Tripp Miller (St. Michael Catholic HS) all toe the line in an August singlet a few months ago. They were all part of the PBC XC Championships as well.
Helfers came to Augusta with personal bests of 2:05 (800), 4:30 (1600), 9:56 (3200) and 15:50 (5k XC). That's a pretty solid and balanced resume.
If Helfers develops his mile speed a bit more, then we could see him being fairly solid in the 3k. But at the very least, he'll be an impactful athlete on the grass and likely in the long distance events on the oval.
We'd also argue that Helfer's 5k time on the grass tells us that he's better than his 800/1600/3200 times make him out to be. He should develop into a nice depth piece for now and then potentially into an impact varsity scorer.
As for Shazeb Rashid, he joined Augusta in the fall with personal bests of 1:58 (800), 4:27 (1600) and 16:03 (5k XC). Naturally, we see him as a strong middle distance athlete for the Jaguars. He brings some solid speed to an endurance-centric roster.
Seeing Rashid as part of an extended conference championship team this past fall was promising for his long-term development. With strong middle distance times, adding some aerobic strength could make Rashid a fairly versatile piece on the oval.
The last name of that aforementioned trio is
Tripp Miller who also happened to see the most success of any August rookie during the 2022 fall campaign. And admittedly, his improvement was somewhat surprising given that he holds solid, but somewhat modest, personal bests of 2:08 (800), 4:32 (1600), 9:53 (3200) and 16:34 (5k XC).
Of those times, nothing immediately sticks out. His times could be better, but we did expect Miller to be someone who could develop quickly and contribute sooner rather than later. However, we may not have labeled him as the best freshman on this team back in August.
The next three athletes who we will talk about are the final sub-4:30 milers who have joined Augusta, giving the team more of a middle distance presence.
We'll start with
Noah Shepherd (Northside HS) who joined the Jaguars with marks of 1:58 (800), 4:27 (1600), 10:40 (3200) and 17:09 (5k XC). Immediately. there is reason to believe that Shepherd will be a middle distance staple for this program in the coming years.
The Northside High School product has the fastest 800 meter mark of any freshman for Augusta this year and Shepherd even ran that time during the preliminaries of the Georgia 5A Track & Field State Championships. That was the only time that Shepherd raced at a state meet. And by leaving with a PR in the biggest meet of his career, one has to think that this youngster still has some untapped potential.
We're not saying that he'll continue to do that on
every championship stage he's at the college level, but if Shepherd can continue to race at his best when it matters the most, then he'll be plenty successful with the Jaguars.
Nasrudin Mohamed is the next name who we will talk about. Mohamed graduated from Grovetown High School in Grovetown, Georgia. He joined this Augusta program with personal bests of 2:06 (800), 4:25 (1600), 9:35 (3200) and 16:07 (5k XC).
When you add in three top-10 finishes at his state meet, you'll realize that Mohamed is an effective runner in almost every facet of racing. He has good times, solid-ish range, great experience and championship success.
And while his personal best of 2:06 in the 800 meters isn't as good as the rest of his marks, that's simply because he only contested that event once in his high school career.
Mohamed has all the traits to be successful at the D2 level. And with the proper development, he has a chance to be a top runner for the Jaguars in future seasons. It just might take some time to get there.
The last sub-4:30 miler who we have is
Cailan Howard a graduate from South Effingham High School in Guyton, Georgia. He joined the Jaguars with personal bests of 2:02 (800), 4:28 (1600), 9:44 (3200) and 15:51 (5k XC).
Howard is (mostly) similar to Mohamed when it comes down to his track times. In Howard's case, it's his 3200 meters that doesn't stack up to the rest of his personal bests (although it isn't far off, either). And given his strong cross country credentials, you could argue that Howard should be better on the track across the board.
And while it may seem like we're being critical, we're actually not. Instead, we think that Howard could be a high-ceiling name to watch out for.
Howard was also part of the 6A classification in Georgia, meaning that he and Mohamed have seen each other throughout their high school careers. They'll now get to train and grow together and they could eventually be a strong 1-2 punch if things go right for them.
Augusta's final four freshmen can be viewed as "true" developmental pieces.
Binh Nhien Do (Brunswick HS) has run 2:03 (800), 4:33 (1600), 11:07 (3200) and 17:16 (5k XC). His future will evolve in the middle distance events as 2:03 and 4:33 are both solid times.
Holton Strickland (Southeast Bulloch HS) joins Augusta with recorded marks of 2:08 (800), 4:42 (1600), 10:10 (3200) and 17:11 (5k XC). There's potential for Strickland to be a strong long distance runner on the grass or oval, but a few years of development may be necessary.
Benjamin Roberts (Brookwood HS) came into Augusta with times of 2:07 (800), 4:45 (1600), 9:55 (3200) and 16:59 (5k XC). His 3200 meter mark indicates that Roberts may get better as the distance gets longer, but he'll also need to capitalize on his aerobic base over the next few years.
Joseph Elbert (East Paulding HS) is the final recruit for Augusta. He came to campus with personal bests of 2:10 (800), 4:57 (1600), 10:46 (3200) and 17:07 (5k XC). A couple of years to acclimate to the training is likely needed before we see Elbert contributing. However, he seemed to pick up some decent momentum throughout his senior year.
The Augusta men put together a second-straight rookie class that can help change the direction of this already-rising program. While it's too early to tell just how good this class is, we could be talking about this group being a strong reason why Augusta is viewed as one of the top teams in Division II come 2024 or 2025.
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