FORT GORDON, GA – The University of Montevallo set a PBC record and won their second women's cross country championship on Saturday at Fort Gordon near Augusta, Ga. The Falcons place four runners in the top five and finished with 24 points, tied for the lowest point total ever in a PBC race. UM finished ahead of second-place North Georgia by 62 points, the largest margin of victory in PBC history.
Individually, UM's Katie Nelson became the second PBC student-athlete in a row to pull of the trifecta of being voted the PBC Runner of the Year prior to the race, winning the PBC Individual Championship and doing all of it as a freshman to earn the league's Freshman of the Year award. Flagler's Sara Mund did the same in 2013.
On Saturday, Nelson covered the 6k course in 21:24 – the fastest 6k time in a PBC Championship ever. The freshman from Brewton, Ala., was 20 seconds ahead of teammate Cheyenne Thompson in second. Anna Leinheiser was fourth overall with Hannah Evans in fifth. All four runners finished the race in 22:01 or faster and all four times are now in the PBC's top-10 all time in a 6k race.
UNG was second with 86 points. Brittany Truitt ran with the lead pack for the majority of the run and finished sixth overall in 22:03. Maggie Tindol was 14th in 22:22 while Emily Buesse was 16th with a time of 22:36. The second-place finish is the best-ever for the Nighthawks in the PBC Championship.
In third place was defending champions Flagler, just six points behind UNG. Hanna Ramirez led the Saints with a ninth-place finish in 22:10 while Taylor Strekel was 13th and Lauren Rodriguez 15th.
Georgia Regents finished fourth with 125 points while UNC Pembroke was fifth and Columbus State sixth.
The top 15 runners were named to the All-Conference team. Next up for the majority of the teams will be the NCAA Southeast Regional Nov. 22 in Montevallo, Ala.
2014 Peach Belt Conference
Women's Cross Country Award Winners
Elite 15 Award presented by GradesFirst
Kayla Parsons, Columbus State
All-Conference Team
Katie Nelson, Montevallo
Cheyenne Thompson, Montevallo
Meagan Wright, Francis Marion
Anna Leinheiser, Montevallo
Hannah Evans, Montevallo
Brittany Truitt, North Georgia
Renee Usher, Columbus State
Jordan Humphrey, Georgia Regents
Hanna Ramirez, Flagler
Olivia Rodriguez, Georgia Regents
Nicole Smith, Young Harris
Sierra Millsaps, Montevallo
Taylor Strekel, Flagler
Maggie Tindol, North Georgia
Lauren Rodriguez, Flagler
PBC Runner of the Year
(voted on prior to championship)
Katie Nelson, Montevallo
PBC Coach of the Year
(voted on prior to championship)
Tommy Barksdale, Montevallo
PBC Freshman of the Year
Katie Nelson, Montevallo
PBC All-Sportsmanship Team
Monique Belmudes, Clayton State
Renee Usher, Columbus State
Sara Mund, Flagler
Mackenzie Arnold, Francis Marion
Rachel Pasko, Georgia College
Tia Ponsell, Georgia Regents
Daira Woods, Georgia Southwestern
Seirra Millsaps, Montevallo
Julie Sem, UNC Pembroke
Caitlin Connell, North Georgia
Brittany May, USC Aiken
Nicole Smith, Young Harris
