MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The University of North Georgia (UNG) women's cross country team finished in third place in the GCSU Bobcat Invitational and Peach Belt Conference Championship Preview in Milledgeville, Ga. Friday evening.

The Nighthawks posted a team score of 70 points to finish behind the winner Augusta (41 points) and Georgia Southern (61 points). The Nighthawks were the second-highest finishing PBC team behind the Jaguars and ahead of Georgia College, Columbus State, Clayton State, USC Beaufort, USC Aiken and Georgia Southwestern.

Freshman Ahna Hicks finished in second place in the 5k event with a time of 19:28.15. Hicks has now run three collegiate races and finished in second place, seventh place and second again respectively. 

Sophomore Maggie Welp earned a ninth-place standing among the 130 runners with a 20:07.97 pace. Welp joins Hicks as the only UNG runners with three top-10 finishes to start the 2025 season.

Freshman Jordan Starling ran the race at a 20:28.1 pace and crossed the finish line in 16th-place Friday.

Freshman Tessie Braman was the fourth-highest scoring Nighthawk in the race as she finished in 17th place after a 20:30.9 time. 

Sophomore Aubrey Dishman was the final scoring UNG runner on Friday. The second-year Nighthawk posted a 27th-place finish after running at a 20:53.54 pace in the conference championship preview.

UNG is off to a hot start this season having posted a trio of top-three finishes to begin the year. This season marks the third time since 2020 the Nighthawks have accomplished such a feat.

Now UNG will get ready to compete in the Georgia Tech XC Invitational held in Atlanta, Ga. on Friday, Oct. 3 at 9:20 a.m.