AU’s Avery Jaynes completes historic career at NCAA D-II National Championships

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The most decorated athlete to ever run on Augusta University’s Track and Field team has completed a career to .

After breaking his own school record in the 10,000-meter race back in March, Avery Jaynes grabbed a pair of top-15 finishes in the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted in Pueblo, Colorado.

In Colorado, Jaynes finished fifth overall in the 10,000-meter race and thirteenth overall in the 5,000-meter race, which would be his final race as a Jaguar.

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Jaynes’s performance earned him All-American honors, and he became the first AU Track and Field athlete to podium at the NCAA outdoor national meet.

On top of a historic performance at nationals, Jaynes also took home the 2025 Peach Belt Conference Outstanding Track Athlete award and graduated with two AU Male Athlete of the Year awards.

According to AU, before his graduation earlier this month, Jaynes was honored in a private graduation ceremony on campus earlier this month, hosted by Augusta University President Russell T. Keen, EdD, in recognition of his academic achievement while competing at the NCAA Championships.

Jaynes graduates and leaves AU as the most accomplished distance runner in school history.