(GAINESVILLE)— At the 11th Annual UNG XC Invitational at the UNG Cross Country Course, the University of North Georgia women’s cross country team finished third in a a talented field of nine teams.
Emily McBride and Claire Mills grabbed spots in the top ten, finishing in ninth and tenth, respectively. McBride recorded a time of 18:29.8 while Mills finished 11 seconds later at 18:40.3. Freshman Adi Myers finished third for UNG and 17th overall, clocking a time of 19:17.3. Anna Chasteen was close behind, following with a time of 19:21.1, good for 20th overall.
Three Nighthawks crossed the finish line in a pack as Elissa Oliver (22nd), Nealeigh Broadwell (25th) and Ella Stoudenmire (26th) all finished within 20 seconds of each other. Oliver clocked a time of 19:35.3, while Broadwell finished at 19:53.2. Stoudenmire rounded out the trio with a time of 19:55.1.
Grace Opsahl (33rd), Ashley Pope (43rd) and Maggie Davidson (44th) finished as the final Nighthawk runners in the event. Catawba took the team title, taking all five spots in the top five finishers. The Nighthawks finished behind second place Carson-Newman, finishing third in the second consecutive race.
Catawba’s Mikalya Jones set a new course record with a 5K time of 17:04, bettering the previous record by a single second. Catawba ran away with the team title with a perfect team score of 15 points.
North Georgia will take a week off and run it back, hosting the NCAA Southeast Regional Preview, again racing at the UNG Cross Country Course in Gainesville, Ga. on Sept. 30. The race will begin at 9:00 a.m. and features teams of NCAA Regional hopefuls from around the southeast.
