YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – The University of North Georgia women's cross country team began its 2024 season Friday evening, finishing in second place at the 2nd Annual Young Harris Opener.

The Nighthawks tied Converse, the event's winner, in total points as each squad finished with 31. However, the tiebreaker pits the top runner for each team against the other. Converse's Lauren Beatty finished first in the 4K with a 15:07.2 time, 31 seconds ahead of graduate student Claire Mills, UNG's lead runner. 

Mills, the 2023 Peach Belt Conference Runner of the Year, got off to a blistering pace to start the 2024 season. Coming as a surprise to no one, she led the way for UNG with a 15:38.4 time. In what is a literal "blink of the eye" difference, senior Anna Chasteen finished just behind Mills with a 15:38.6 mark. Chasteen shaved over an entire minute off her time from the same event a season ago. Mills also cut her time by 28 seconds from last year. 

The final three scoring runners for the Nighthawks were all newcomers. Freshman Maggie Welp finished seventh overall in the 36-runner event with a time of 16:16.2. Just behind Welp in eighth and ninth place respectively were fellow freshmen Teagan Lamp and Aubrey Dishman. Lamp paced herself to a 16:24.0 mark while Dishman rounded out the UNG scoring after running a 16:33.4. 

After finishing in third place as a team last year, the Nighthawks will raise some eyebrows with their performance in Young Harris Opener. In just one season they cut their total team time by two seconds and improved by 44 total points on the scoreboard. 

Next, UNG will host the 12th Annual UNG XC Invitational on Friday, Sep. 13 at 6:30 p.m. in Gainesville, Ga. at the UNG Cross Country Course. The Nighthawks finished in third place out of nine teams in the event last year.