MACON, Ga. - After capturing their first Peach Belt Conference title since 2016 last season, the Flagler College men's cross country team look to repeat as they compete at the PBC Cross Country Championship on Saturday at the Georgia Premier Cross Country Course.

Despite taking the crown last season, Flagler enters the race facing an uphill battle. This season Flagler's core competed in two races, the Chargers Invite and the FSU XC Invitational. Facing relevant competition, Flagler managed a 16th place finish while competing in Huntsville. Sitting ahead was Augusta University who managed an 11th place finish, followed by Georgia College & State University in 22nd. While competing in Tallahassee, Flagler placed a respectable second out of 12 teams.

Capping off a plethora of personal records at their regular season finale, the Saints top dogs, Axel Dabe and Kaleb Hollins earned a place in the record books. Running a 24:34.5, Dabe now holds the eighth fastest 8k in school history and second fastest in the conference this season. Going head-to-head with Augusta's No. 1, Nasrudin Mohamed, Dabe finished on his heals with 2.3 seconds separating the two. Rounding out the top-five fastest times this season, Hollins recorded the eighth fastest time in school history with his 24:56.3.

With a slightly older roster compared to their sister team, the Saints could lean on upperclassmen Ben Youngs and Bryce Dufrene to land within the top-15 of the conference. Youngs shattered his previous personal best to finish with a 25:34.8 at the Chargers Invite. Making his collegiate debut, true freshman Christopher Cull and fellow underclassman Tomas Ribeiro have potential to establish themselves in this Saints core. Cull holds the fastest time of any freshman this season as he ran a 25:26.4 whereas Ribeiro holds Flagler's fourth fastest 8k this season in 25:29.9.

For the first time, the conference championship will be held at the Georgia Premier Cross Country Course, hosted by Middle Georgia State University. The historic course has been home to multiple Division I conference championships such as the Atlantic Sun and Southern Conference. The 8k will be the first of the two races, beginning at 9:00 AM.

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