Nicole Degner led the host Berry College women’s cross country team to a win at the Southern States Athletic Conference meet on Saturday. Berry finished with a total of 25 points to eclipse second place Lee, which totaled 59 points.

Degner, a red-shirt senior from Peachtree City, Ga. finished the 5 kilometer race in a time of 19:13 to take the top spot. After running with a pack of Berry runners over the first three miles, Degner broke away over the last mile to finish ahead of Leah Derringer from Reinhardt who finished in 19:37. Anne Houghton from Lee who led for much of the race finished in third place with a time of 19:38.

“It was a good race,” said Degner. “I stayed with my teammates for the majority of the race and then was able to open it up at the end.”
Fairburn’s Sarah King competed in the race and finished in the top 35 for Berry.