‘Every day at class, I was glued in’: Jaguars track standout finds focus on and off the field at Augusta University

Soon-to-be graduate Hans Troyer said Augusta University was the “greatest possible choice” for him to continue his running career, knowing of its reputation as a successful program with plenty of options for an education.

“Iron sharpens iron, and obviously I wanted to be competing with the best,” said Troyer, a fifth-year senior from Newnan, Georgia. “I began training with the whole team and it’s been fantastic.”

Troyer, who competes in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on the Augusta University men’s track and field team, originally was going to pursue a biology degree but a challenging semester forced him to re-evaluate his plans. He began to think of how much he appreciates and loves training and how it affects his body, looking for ways he could help others.

When someone mentioned AU has a degree program in the College of Education and Human Development to study kinesiology with a focus on exercise science, Troyer said his eyes lit up.

“Every day at class, I was glued in, especially when they were talking about different training effects. I took a class called exercise physiology [with Madison Kindred, PhD] and it is my favorite class of all time. It was awesome,” he said. “She is the most inspiring teacher I’ve ever learned from because she just had a way of making it fun, making it interactive. In her class, we learned about how different training affects your body, including resistance training, running and swimming. That was so fascinating to me, learning what my body’s doing when I’m training.”

Troyer took that information he learned and took it with him to practice, explaining to his teammates the difference between running slower and how it creates a different energy system.

He has had a successful run during his time on the Jaguars’ track & field team, first under former coach Adam Ward and with current coach Jacob Burgamy. From 2019-22, he finished second as a freshman at the Emory Invitational while securing three top-five finishes and six top 10s. In 2021, he finished second in the steeplechase and third in the 10,000 meters at the Peach Belt Conference Championships. In 2022, he had five wins and broke the school’s 10K record while being named to PBC Team of Academic Distinction.

This season, Troyer won the 10,000 meters and steeplechase at the PBC Championships and broke the school record in the 10K at the Charlotte 49er Classic in the pouring rain.

Augusta Jags on Instagram: See Hans Troyer’s winning moment

“The team chemistry is the best it’s ever been, at least in my five years here,” he said. “I think what makes the big difference is everybody’s looking forward to coming to practice. We’re just hanging out with friends every day. I read a running study a few months ago and one of the questions asked, ‘How was your quality of life?’ The people that said they have a high quality of life showed the most improvement. I think that us having so much fun at practice, it’s making us faster at the end of the day. Just having that opportunity to go to practice and have a good time hanging out your friends, you can’t beat it.”

Troyer isn’t sure what his next professional step will be, aside from potentially pursuing a semi-professional career in disc golf, a sport he said has the ability to ground him and bring him back to center on those tough and stressful days. He does foresee coaching in his future. He said he’s had great coaches over the years and he likes working with people.

“I’ve always considered myself a natural leader, even this year being a fifth-year senior on the team, I’ve had the opportunity to be a mentor to some of the younger guys on the team and I have loved every second of it. I think if I were to get into coaching, I’d be living the dream.”