DAHLONEGA – University of North Georgia (UNG) women's cross country freshman runner Ahna Hicks has been named as the Peach Belt Conference Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week the league announced Monday afternoon.

Hicks started her collegiate career by making headlines on Friday for the Nighthawks. 

As UNG opened the season in the Bruins XC Night Classic hosted by Bob Jones in Greenville, S.C., Hicks ran the 4k in a blistering 15:04.6 pace to finish in second place individually. 

Her performance highlighted the Nighthawks in the competition in which five UNG runners finished in the top 10, leading to the overall team victory. 

The win marked the Nighthawks' first victory since their own event last season and the second victory in an event hosted by Bob Jones since 2022.

Hicks earned the PBC's first Runner of the Week Award this season, extending UNG's streak to five consecutive seasons with at least one runner to the weekly award from the conference.

Hicks and the Nighthawks are back in action this Friday as they will host the 13th Annual UNG XC Invitational. The race takes place on the UNG-Gainesville campus at the UNG Cross Country Course on Friday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m.