OAKWOOD, Ga. — Three races, three top overall finishes for Marcus Graham.
 
Behind a first-place 24:42.6 finish, the senior paced the Flagler College men's cross country pack, literally, as the next five Saints finished in order to give the team its second consecutive first-place finish with 15 points. Augusta was next best with 60 points at the University of North Georgia's Peach Belt Conference Preview, which is a snapshot of the course the PBC Championships will be held on in two weeks in Oakwood, Georgia.
 
"For being solo out there, I felt like our guys ran well," Flagler College head cross country coach Brian Beil said. "We still need our pack to close the gap to Marcus if we hope to contend with a top-5 national team like Augusta in two weeks. We accomplished our goals today, which were to take another step forward with our result, and to get a good look at the conference course. Marcus looked strong and controlled for most of the race. He's in great shape right now, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him rested in two weeks."
 
The next best Saint to finish was Asad Bashir, who bounced back after not being able to finish the Sand Shark Invitational two weeks ago. The sophomore brought his best, too, crossing the finish line with a new personal-best time (25:24.9) for second place.
 
Joel Nesi followed Bashir with a time of 25:34.5 for third, while Justine Greene (25:36.1) took fourth and Connor Norton used a new PR of 25:42.0 to round out the top five. Every Saint crossed the finish line before any other school as Evan Fuller (26.17.1) claimed sixth place and Flagler secured first place.
 
"UNG did a fantastic job with this meet," Beil said. "The campus hasn't had power since the hurricane rolled through, but you wouldn't have known it out there today. No matter the hurdles we might have between now and the championship, it's obvious to me that UNG is well prepared to host it."
 
Team scores in order: Flagler (15), Augusta University (60), Bryan College (79), Piedmont College (91), Clayton State University (131), Young Harris College (138)
 
Top 10 individuals in order: Marcus Graham (24:42.6), Flagler; Asad Bashir (25:24.9), Flagler; Joel Nesi (25:36.1), Flagler; Justin Greene (25:36.1), Flagler; Connor Norton (25:42.0), Flagler; Evan Fuller (25:52.61), Flagler; Carlos Rodriguez (26:26.1), Augusta; Mikias Mekonen (26:33.1), Augusta; Gary Halverson (26:36.7), Piedmont; Ben McGinnis (26:38.6)
 
Up Next: The men will be back on this same course for the PBC Championships Saturday, November 14.
 
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