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Date: Sept. 10, 2021
Location: Oakwood, Ga. – UNG Cross Country Course
Events: Men and women – 5k
 
OAKWOOD, Ga. – Piedmont University's cross country teams stacked the leaderboards again on Friday afternoon as multiple Lions runners placed near the top of their events, vaulting the men's team to a first place finish.
 
Falling in line behind senior CONNOR MORANOS and junior GARY HALVERSON, the Piedmont men placed three runners in the top 10 and five in the top 15 to outpace their eight competitors.  
 
The Lions' top seven runners accumulated 43 points to earn the victory ahead of second place Georgia College (51) and third place Covenant (67).
 
Moranos and Halverson placed third and fourth, respectively, to lead the group of 14 Piedmont entries. Moranos' 5k time of 15:32.5 was his best 5k finish to date and was just 10 seconds off the pace from race winner Zac Wright-Fisher from Life.
 
Halverson was close behind with a 15:39.3, also a 5k personal best. Senior DARIUS SMITH earned himself a top 10 finish as well with a time of 16:11.0, slotting him into seventh place.
 
The remaining point scorers for Piedmont included CONNOR CREEDON and MAX MILLER, who placed 14^th and 15^th ahead of teammates COLE ELROD in 20^th and JADON GONZALES in 24^th. Gonzales was the highest-finishing newcomer among the Piedmont entries.
 
On the women's side, senior VAL ANGEL paced the Lions yet again as she come home in sixth place with a time of 18:48.5. Junior JAYCIE PONCE was second amongst Piedmont runners with a time of 19:12.6, placing her in 12^th.
 
With just four runners, the Piedmont women did not compete for points on Friday.

In addition to their stellar event finishes, both Moranos and Angel set program records with their 5k times on Friday afternoon. The success didn't stop there as each of the top six men and top two women runners eclipsed the previous top marks set by their programs. 
 
Piedmont stays close to northeast Georgia next week as the Lions travel to the South Region Preview in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The races on Saturday, September 18, will be held on the campus of Converse University.
 
Complete men's results:
5k:
CONNOR MORANOS – 15:32.5
GARY HALVERSON – 15:39.3
DARIUS SMITH – 16:11.0
CONNOR CREEDON – 16:34.8
MAX MILLER – 16:37.1
COLE ELROD – 16:51.4
JADON GONZALES – 16:59.6
JACOB BALOT – 17:03.9
WALKER CAPELLE – 17:08.3
TUCKER COX – 17:08.4
MATTHEW GALE – 17:42.9
NOAH IRWIN – 17:46.0
TREY HUGULEY – 18:08.0
CHRIS BALE – 19:05.4
 
Complete women's results:
5k:
VAL ANGEL – 18:48.5
JAYCIE PONCE – 19:12.6
JOSEY GEORGE – 20:31.1
LEEANN LAWRENCE – 21:49.0
 
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