Piedmont College Men's Cross Country

Jenkins returns to Piedmont for a run at back-to-back titles for the mens cross country program while also having developed a brand new pair of programs with track & field added as PCs 16th and 17th sports offered.   In two seasons so far as the leader of Piedmonts cross country programs, Jenkins has already led one of his teams to the top with the 2015 mens cross country squad earning the USA South Championship with an average team time of 28:41.04, eight seconds higher than runner-up and the previous years champ Covenant College.  The men placed runners 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th to take the title led by top finisher Clayton Thayer with a 28:27, 19 seconds off the individual leader at the meet.   Additionally, the womens cross country team posted a top four finish in 2015 to help Piedmont take the Presidents Cup on the womens side at the end of the 2015-16 year.  The Lady Lions were led by Reese Bowles who placed 6th individual with a 25:03 time on the course, just a minute behind the meet leader.   In 2015, Piedmont saw four Lady Lions earn All-Conference accolades which equaled the amount of All-Conference honorees for the womens cross country programs in Piedmonts first three years of membership in the USA South.  On the mens side, four Lions took All-Conference status as well with Jenkins taking his first USA South Coach of the Year honors for his work with the program.    Jenkins run to the title comes as no surprise as he burst onto the scene in Demorest leading his mens team to perhaps one of their best statistical finishes ever as the men set a new school record with an 8K average time of 29:00 as the top four Lions finished in the top ten individually at the conference meet.  A pair of Piedmont mens runners earned 1st Team All-Conference honors while the remaining three in the race posted 2nd Team All-Conference accolades.    As the men finished the 2015 USA South Championship Meet as the runner-up, the women finished 5th in the Conference Championship Meet, the same spot the ladies were slated to finish in the leagues Preseason Coaches Poll.  The Lady Lions were led on the course by a pair of underclassmen as two posted USA South All-Conference honors with one each on the 1st and 2nd teams with the team posting a 6K average time of 29:05, almost 90 seconds ahead of 6th place Methodist University.    Additionally, Jenkins 2015 teams also earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team status for carrying above a 3.10 GPA and competing in at least five different events throughout the season.  His mens team posted a 3.23 GPA as a team while his women put in a 3.37 GPA as both teams continued the academic tradition of Piedmont Athletics.  Jenkins squads would go on to earn the honor again in 2016 as well.   The highlight for the track & field programs so far in Jenkins tenure no doubt has to be the performance of Kyle Ray who was named to the USTFCCCA All-Region Team for the outdoor season as just a freshman finishing ranked in the top five in the pole vault. Ray was one of the top 10 freshman in the country in the category clearing 4.55m (1411) at the Falcon Classic improving by 16 from his high school career when he finished as the Alabama 6A indoor state champion. Jenkins came to Piedmont after a two-year stint with Troy University in Alabama where he served as the Head Cross Country Coach and an Assistant Coach for the Division I institutions Track and Field program as well.  In just his first season with the Trojans, both his mens and womens cross country teams climbed two spots from their finish in the previous season at the Sun Belt Championships. Jenkins also saw a runner named Sun Belt Conference Runner of the Week on both the mens and womens side while helping mens runner Enock Kirui to All-Conference honors in 2012.  Additionally, Jenkins also gained valuable program management experience while working with the Trojans as he was the Meet Director for five home cross country meets including the Sun Belt Championships and also directed the Troy Trojans Summer Distance Running Camp.    Establishing himself as one of the Trojans brightest rising stars amongst the coaching ranks, Jenkins guided 11 student-athletes to top-10 all-time marks in the programs history including a number two mark in both the womens indoor 5000m and 3000m.  Jenkins also mentored the schools new record holder in the womens 3000m steeplechase when Julia Ostendorf placed 5th at the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Championship held in May.  Ostendorfs time of 10:51.18 was not only a new lifetime-best, but was also the best time of any Trojan ever to compete in the event.   Jenkins success should come as no surprise though given the young coachs uncanny ability to recruit as he worked with programs consisting of better than 30 student-athletes at Troy in both the cross country and track & field programs on the mens and womens sides.  Jenkins demonstrated the ability to properly manage his squads both on the track and course as well as in the classroom with his womens team earning USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors in 2012, one of just two Alabama-based programs to take the honor in that season.   Prior to joining the Trojans, Jenkins spent his time as a coaching intern across the state at Auburn University during the spring of 2013.  During his time with the Tigers, Jenkins assisted with home meet preparation and management, compiled recruiting analysis portfolios, and created performance and training analysis portfolios.    A native of Alabama, Jenkins earned his coaching start in his home state at the high school ranks while still running himself in college as he was the Head Track & Field Coach at Prattville Christian Academy from 2008-2011.  Jenkins mentored eight AISA State Champions during that time period with his athletes breaking 34 school records as he also saw one of his Panthers earn JV State Champion Individual MVP honors.   Also spending his time as an assistant coach with the cross country program at Prattville Christian, Jenkins helped guide the girls cross country team to a state championship in 2010 after finishing the 2009 season as the AISA runner-up.  It was during his time with the Panthers when Jenkins began his meet management career serving as the Meet Director for the Purple & Black Challenge hosted by PCA.    In the summers of 2008, 2009, and 2010, Jenkins worked as an assistant coach with the Auburn Track Club cross country team helping his teams to USATF Junior Olympic Regional championships and also National Team Qualifiers.  The coach mentored four USATF All-Region Cross Country honorees during his time with the Alabama-based club, another coaching stint that came during Jenkins time as a student-athlete in the collegiate ranks.   No stranger to the world of Division III athletics, Jenkins himself ran his collegiate days at fellow USA South member Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama competing for four successful years with the Hawks.  Named an All-Conference selection in each year he suited up for the program, the runner helped his squad to three Great South Athletic Conference Championships in his four years, the only cross country athlete in Huntingdon history to be part of three title winning teams.    With his leadership recognized early in his athletic career being named team captain for the Hawks, Jenkins had great individual success as a Division III student-athlete taking the GSAC Runner of the Year honor in 2011 after earning the individual championship with a time of 28:57.69 on the 8K course.  Recognized as an All-Freshman selection in 2008, Jenkins never finished worse than 6th individually at the GSAC Championships splashing on to the scene as a rookie with a top 5 finish that helped Huntingdon win its first-ever conference title in mens cross country.   Jenkins is certified through USA Track & Field as a Level III coach in endurance events and was recognized with a diploma from the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Academy and Indiana University as an Elite Endurance Coach.   With multiple certifications to his name, Jenkins has been honored as a guest speaker for a variety of clubs, teams, and camps on multiple occasions and attended coaching education events like the 2011 Nike Super Distance Summit in Charlotte, the 2011 USOC International Altitude Training Seminar in Colorado Springs, and the USATF/IAAF Endurance Academy in Chula Vista.    Having earned a Bachelor of Science in Coaching Education from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama (May 2012), Jenkins recently completed his graduate work obtaining his Master of Science in the field of Sport and Fitness Management from Troy University.  During his days at Huntingdon, Jenkins excelled academically competing as a Division III student-athlete with the Hawks earning Deans List of High Honors while wearing the Scarlet and Grey.    In December of 2014, Jenkins married the former Danielle Percival, a member of the Piedmont College Office of Athletic Communications, and the two now make their home in nearby Demorest. Season at Piedmont: Alma Mater: @PiedmontTFXC Congratulations to Piedmont College for hiring Jeff Jenkins as the Lions new head cross country/track coach.  Jeff is a bright, hard-working, determined young coach who will make the most of this wonderful opportunity.   Jeff is a tireless recruiter, exceptional running coach, and a person of high moral character.   I am confident that he will provide outstanding leadership not only to the young men and women in the cross country/track programs, but also to the Piedmont College campus community.      - Nate Rucker, Upper Iowa University     Director of Cross Country/Assistant Athletic Director

Layne.  A former collegiate teammate of Jenkins at Huntingdon College, Layne joins a successful cross country program at PC while the new Lions coach will help to build a successful track & field program for the Green and Gold as well.    In his first year with the programs, Layne helped Piedmont to a runner-up finish in the USA South Championship Meet on the mens side while the women placed 5th.  The men posted an 8K average time of 29:00 as the top four Lions finished in the top ten individually with five earning USA South All-Conference accolades including two 1st Team honorees.    The Piedmont mens cross country team turned in its best 8K average time in the history of the program as well with a slew of records falling in Laynes first season as an assistant with the program.  For the women, two finished with All-Conference status as the Lady Lions posted a 29:05 average time on the 6K course to best 6th place Methodist by more than 90 seconds.    PC also got it done in the classroom his first year earning USTFCCCA All-Academic Team status for carrying above a 3.10 GPA and competing in at least five different events throughout the season.  The mens team posted a 3.23 GPA as a team while his women put in a 3.37 GPA as both teams continued the academic tradition of Piedmont Athletics.   Championships are nothing new for Layne nor for the Piedmont cross country  programs which have combined to win a pair of conference titles in the past six seasons with four additional runner-up finishes as well.  Layne brings championship pedigree with him to the coaching post at PC as he helped his Huntingdon Hawks to a pair of GSAC titles during his collegiate running days.   Layne's championship pedigree was established during his time running for the Scarlet and Grey at Piedmont's fellow USA South member school, Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama.  During his time with the Hawks, Layne ran in 16 events over his three seasons including three Great South Athletic Conference Championship Meets, the final two of which his team claimed the top spot to win back-to-back conference crowns from 2010 to 2011.   Layne comes to the only institution that bested him in a GSAC championship meet as Piedmont claimed the 2009 title, the same event where Layne posted the best championship performance of his career, an 11th place finish of 22 runners at Pyne Road Park in LaGrange, Georgia.  The Hawk ran a 30:21 on the 8K course that day as his team came up just three points shy of the GSAC title, but the performance was a personal best for Layne during his debut season and one that would stand as such until he shaved three seconds off at the 2010 NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional Championship Meet a year later.   That NCAA performance from 2010 came just two weeks after Layne helped Huntingdon claim the GSAC title as he averaged just over a 6-minute mile to repeat as the 11th place finisher at the conference championships.  Layne's 31:02 finish in Maryville, Tennessee was his second-best such performance on an 8K course that season though the runner would prove Mr. Consistent one year later for HC as he never finished outside the top 13 at a conference championship event in his collegiate career.   In the 2011 title run for HC, Layne ran a 31:11 on the 8K course at the Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga, Tennessee besting 24 other runners from across the league as the Hawks came out on top of the four teams competing for the GSAC crown.   Layne helped Huntingdon to finish with a total time of 2:32:12, two minutes ahead of Piedmont at the same event as the Lions were runners-up to the Hawks in both of the championship seasons that Layne was a part of at Huntingdon.   Originally from Asheville, North Carolina, Layne graduated from AC Reynolds High School before making the trek down to Alabama to enroll at Huntingdon.  In the spring of 2014, Layne completed his undergraduate degree at Huntingdon by earning his Bachelor of Arts in Religion as he spent three seasons as a NCAA Division III student-athlete with the Hawks.    Serving as the program's recruiting coordinator, Layne has completed his USTFCCCA Track & Field Technical Coaching Certification, a 15-hour course in training design and technical instruction for common track and field events.  The course's curriculum covers all key aspects of technical coaching and serves as a foundation for Layne who will be instrumental in Piedmont's movement towards track & field.   Layne assists Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach Jeff Jenkins in all facets of the program.