GAINESVILLE, Ga. | The University of North Georgia women’s cross country program is set to serve as host to the 25th Peach Belt Conference Cross Country Championship
this Saturday in Gainesville, Ga. The event will be run on the UNG Cross Country course on the Gainesville campus with the women’s 6K race will begin at
9:00 a.m. with the men’s 8K following at
9:45.
The top seven runners (both men’s and women’s) will be named first-team All-Conference with the next seven finishers named second-team.
Two live streams of Saturday’s races will be available. The main race feed will be available on the PBC’s UStream channel while a second feed of the leaders from the pace vehicle will be shown on Periscope. The Periscope link will be available on Twitter on Saturday morning.
The PBC championship is the first-ever hosted by North Georgia since UNG transitioned to NCAA Division II and the Peach Belt Conference in 2005.
The cross country championship was inaugural championship ever held by the Peach Belt. The first race took place on Oct. 26, 1991, in Spartanburg, S.C. Lander’s Maria McIntosh won the event, which was a 5k race until 2006 when it became a 6k.
North Georgia, ranked fifth in the USTFCCCA’s Southeast region poll, will run on their home course with an eye on their first-ever team title. The Nighthawks finished second overall and were the top PBC team at the UNG Invitational in September, run on the same home course. Junior Brittany Truitt has led UNG in every race so far this season with three top-10 finishes overall.
Defending champion Montevallo looks to become the first repeat winners since Columbus State finished off a run of six straight titles from 2005-10. The Falcons are ranked No. 19 in the nation, their highest national ranking ever, and are the top-ranked team in the Southeast region.
Augusta University is ranked sixth in the latest regional poll after finishing in the top 10 of all four of their meets this season.
UNC Pembroke, ranked No. 7 regionally, won the season-opening USC Upstate Eye Opener and finished third at the UNG Invitational.
Columbus State has not finished outside of the top five in any race they have run this year. Ranked ninth in the region, the Cougars won the GSW Remembrance Run and both of their home events.
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