FAIRBURN, Ga. | The Young Harris College men's cross country team finished fifth place out of nine teams in the Peach Belt Conference Championship Saturday (Oct. 23) morning.. 

The Mountain Lions return to action Saturday (Nov. 6) at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional in Spartanburg, South Carolina. 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Augusta University won their third straight PBC Championship with a perfect score of 15, while Flagler College placed second with 53 points.
• Young Harris garnered 163 points to finish in fifth place. The finish by the Mountain Lions was the best-ever finish at the PBC Championship. YHC had placed sixth in four different championships (2012, 2015, 2016, 2020).
• The top YHC runner to cross the finish line was Kai Vigardt, who came in 34th place with a time of 26:54.7. The next Mountain Lion was Thomas Mellendorf, whose time of 27:39.3, was good for 47th place.
• Luke Surowiec came in 48th place with a time of 27:43.2, while Hunter Payne came in 52nd with a time of 27:59.2. 
• Hayden Durrett was right behind Payne in 53rd place, running a  time of 28:00.2. 
• Jack Rush finished in 57th place with a time of 28:28.5, while Austin Sever ran a 30:31.3, good for 60th place. 
• Nhan Le was the final YHC runner as he finished in 68th place with a time of 31:57.4. 
• Mellendorf was named to the Peach Belt's All-Sportsmanship Team.
• Surowiec was the PBC Elite 16 Award winner with a cumulative 4.0 grade-point average as a Spanish major. The award goes to the runner with the highest cumulative GPA at the championship. He is the first YHC men's cross country runner and the 12th Mountain Lion overall to earn the award.

Be the first to know what's going on with the Mountain Lions -- Follow @YHCAthletics on Twitter, follow YHCAthletics on Instagram, become a fan of Young Harris College Athletics on Facebook and subscribe to the Young Harris College Athletics e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and to interact with Young Harris Athletics.