OAKWOOD, Ga. – Paced by senior Olivia Rish and with four runners finishing in the top-seven spots, the Anderson women's cross country team won its second meet in as many outings by finishing first at the 8th Annual UNG Cross Country Invitational, Saturday morning on the North Georgia Cross Country Course.
AU snapped the host Nighthawks' streak of three straight team titles, with North Georgia finishing second and Columbus State claiming third place. West Georgia finished fourth, while Piedmont and Brenau finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Lander, Reinhardt and Shorter rounded out the nine-team field.
"Both teams ran as a unit once again, and it shows in the results," said Anderson head coach Kevin Eagle. "I am extremely proud of how the teams raced and competed. We are only given a handful of opportunities this year, so we have to take advantages of them when we have them. We had several personal bests today, so nothing gets better than that."
Rish finished second on the strength of a personal-best time of 18:27 over the 5K course, with newcomer Faith Nelson claiming fourth place in a time of 18:44. Senior Hannah Beach slashed 17 seconds off her previous career-best and finished sixth in a time of 18:48.
The freshman tandem of Elise Matthews (18:48) and Emily Golden (19:19) finished seventh and 10th, respectively, while freshman Madison Crumley crossed the finish line in 15th place in a time of 19:36 and classmate Elizabeth Timberlake claimed 17th place in a time of 19:36.
Anderson is slated to get back on the course Friday at the Newberry College Invitational.
COMPLETE WOMEN'S RESULTS
