OAKWOOD - For the third straight year, the University of North Georgia cross country team claimed the meet title at the 7th Annual UNG Invitational, hosted on the UNG Gainesville campus at the UNG Cross Country Course.

The Nighthawks finished with 40 points, placing five in the top 11 to win the meet. Bree Hammond paced North Georgia with a 19:21 5K time, good for fourth place overall. Karmen LeRoy finished two spots back with a 19:43. Olivia Henry, Maria Coughlin and Cheyenne Spinks finished ninth, 10th and 11th, respectively, to round out the counting runners.

North Georgia also put five more runners inside the top 20 in Haley Tillery (12th), Elise Glorvigen (13th), Brynn Wilson (15th), Mariah Millsap (16th) and Elizabeth Burton (20th).

SCAD Atlanta's Emily Kearney set a new meet record with a time of 17:21 to win the women's race. The Bees finished in second place in the team competition, followed by Sewanee, Piedmont and Truett McConnell.

On the men's side, West Alabama edged Emmanuel by a single point in the team competition. The Tigers were paced by the meet individual champion Jakob Bernal, who ran his 8K in 26:27.

The Nighthawks will be back in action on Friday as they compete in the Wingfoot XC Classic in Cartersville, Georgia, at Sam Smith Park. Race time is set for 7:20 p.m.