GAINESVILLE, Ga. – The University of North Georgia (UNG) women's cross country team finished in third place at the Peach Belt Conference Cross Country Championship Saturday morning at the UNG Cross Country Field in Gainesville, Ga.

Hosting the event for the second consecutive season, the Nighthawks earned their seventh straight top three finish in the league championship. Flagler won the race for a seventh straight record, tying a PBC record for consecutive conference title victories. Flagler earned 19 points with a total time of 1:29:12. Augusta came in second with 45 points and a combined pace of 1:31:32 followed by UNG with 73 points and a 1:33:36 mark. 

Flagler's Taylor Stone won the individual crown with a 17:22.5 pace in the 5K. Nighthawk senior Anna Chasteen came in seventh place as she ran to a personal record 18:16.5 pace. The performance marks three straight seasons Chasteen has earned PBC All-Conference honors as the top 15 individual competitors were named all-conference. 

Also earning all-conference this season was UNG freshman Maggie Welp. The newcomer finished in 13th place as she also recorded a new personal best time with an 18:38.7 showing. 

Following Welp was Nighthawk senior and 2024 PBC Runner of the Year Claire Mills who came in 14th place at an 18:41.8 time. Mills made history Saturday, becoming the first runner in PBC history to earn five all-conference honors. Mills is also the first runner in conference history to earn the Freshman of the Year award, Runner of the Year award and be named to the all-conference team at least four times.

After Mills, the next highest scoring UNG runner was sophomore Nealeigh Broadwell. The 2023 PBC Freshman of the Year ran an 18:53.8 personal best in her second appearance in the league championship. Broadwell finished in 20th place. 

Finally, it was senior Ella Stoudenmire who also ran a personal record as she finished in 22nd place with a 19:04.5 pace. Stoudenmire improved on her previous 5K record time from the 2023 PBC Championship by more than nine seconds on Saturday.

Sophomore Adi Myers also ran a personal best, coming in 28th place with a 19:16.4 best time.

After an eleventh straight top three finish in the league final, the Nighthawks will now prepare for the 2024 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional on Saturday, Nov. 9 in Spartanburg, S.C. UNG ran in Spartanburg just seven days ago and earned a ninth place finish at the USC Upstate Invitational, beating out four Division I teams and earning the highest placement of six Division II teams.