Georgia College & State University’s men’s crosscountry team finished in third place at the 2024 Peach Belt Conference Men's Cross Country Championship Oct. 26 while the women’s team finished fourth overall.
For the men’s championship, Augusta University won its sixth consecutive championship as they scored a perfect 15. Flagler College finished with 45 points and the Bobcats followed with 101 points. GCSU had its best finish since the Bobcats came in third in the 2021 championship meet.
The top GCSU runner was Nour Nazim, who finished 23rd during the 8K race on the Univeristy of North Georgia’s (UNG) Cross Country Course with a personal-best time of 26:22.3. Daniel Laird and Shipley Smith each also set personal-best efforts. Laird came in 29th with a tie of 26:38.7, while Smith was a spot back as he recorded a 26:38.8 time.
Noah Boyd was 39th with a time of 27:08.5, while Jaycob Wagner came in 40th at 27:09.02. Peyton Harley set a personal-best time of 27:34.3 and placed 42nd, while Evan Rehrauer came in 44th with a time of 27:46.8. Brendan Rice, who was named to the league's All-Sportsmanship team, came in 66th place at 30:07.7 and was followed by Denver Oates (67th, 30:08.1), Garrison Lee (72nd, 30:40.7), Andrew Cook (74th, 31:03.1) and Reed Glaser (75th, 31:07.6).
The female Bobcats, who finished in fourth place for the second consecutive year, tallied 111 points. Flagler College won its seventh consecutive title as the Saints finished with 19 points, 26 points ahead of Augusta University.
Lorena Cazora nearly missed being named to the All-Peach Belt team by two spots as she finished in 17th with a 5K time of 18:47.6, which is also a new personal-best effort. Lauren Thisdale posted a time of 19:07.2 and came in 24th while Haven Bejnerowicz set a personal best with a 19:13.1 effort for 27th. Jillian Muncus placed 31st with a 19:31.8 time, while Anna Agi came in 35th with a time of 19:48.2.
Emily Wright and Maddie Reese Smith each recorded personal-best times in the meet. Wright tallied a time of 20:18.6 for 47th place, while Maddie Reese Smith, who was named to the PBC All-Sportsmanship Team, finished in 49th with a time of 20:31.6. Lauren Hailey finished in 53rd with a time of 21:09.8 and was followed by Campbell Smith (59th, 21:28.5), Eva Jeswald (60th, 21:34.1), and Kylee Geveke (61st, 21:51.4).
GCSU returns to action Nov. 9 when the compete in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championship in Spartanburg, S.C.
- Contributed